


Repercussions

by Angylsmuse, Orithain, Rina9294



Series: Double the Fun [11]
Category: Once a Thief (TV), The X-Files
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Doppelcest, Doppelganger, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-05 17:44:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5384633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylsmuse/pseuds/Angylsmuse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina9294/pseuds/Rina9294
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What to do about Mulder? Takes place about a week after Four's a Crowd.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Repercussions

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted February 2003.

Sitting on the beach watching the sun sink into the sea, Alex could only be grateful that the case was over. Not that he’d had any objection to Mac dominating him and Vic: the sex had been incredible, and he’d enjoyed the double takes he and Vic got from everyone who saw them. Even that whole pony thing had been fun in a kinky sort of way. But he couldn’t forget that Mulder was cooling his heels in a Toronto hotel, having followed him back before Alex had known that he and his partners had a new, out of town assignment, and Alex had no idea what to do about him when he and his lovers got home.

He loved Vic, and even Mac, but Mulder had had a hold on him for a very long time. If only there were some way to have all of them... but he wasn’t going to take a chance of losing Vic, not even for Mulder.

Sensing someone nearby, Alex glanced up and back, smiling invitingly when he recognized Vic. "Leave Mac to finish the mopping up?"

"Well, he _is_ the master, after all," Vic chuckled. "And we did all the ‘grunt’ work if you’ll pardon the pun. It’s about time he did some work too," the younger man chuckled as he sat down next to his lover.

Staring out at the ocean for a while, Vic mulled over the best way to broach what he needed to ask. Alex hadn’t been quite himself this entire mission. Something or, Vic was almost afraid to admit, someone had been distracting him. And Victor Mansfield might be a lot of things, but naive wasn’t one of them; he had a pretty good idea who the someone was.

"So. You gonna tell me what happened in Washington, or am I gonna have to guess?" he asked after long moments, still looking out at the waves, more aware than ever before of both the physical and the slight emotional distance between him and this man who’d come to mean everything to him in such a short space of time.

Alex sighed. "Life would be so much easier if I could lie to you, beautiful. I used to lie to Mulder all the time, and I never had any problem. I told Mulder that I wasn’t going to be going back to Washington again, that I had two gorgeous lovers waiting for me back home in Toronto, and that I wouldn’t hurt you like that." He tossed a water-smoothed rock back into the ocean, watching the ripples spread from where it hit. "He said that he loves me. That he wants to be part of my life, any part."

Vic swallowed painfully. Fucking feebie, he’d had Alex for all those years and had never wanted him, but now that Vic and Mac had him, suddenly Alex was desirable? Son of a bitch, if Vic had a single homicidal bone in his body, he’d be on the first plane back to kill the asshole for pulling this shit.

"And what do you want?" Vic managed to get out through a throat gone so tight that it sounded like he’d just swallowed broken glass and lacerated his vocal chords to hell and back. Not even consciously aware of doing so, the former cop sank further into himself, as if trying to protect himself from the blow he was sure would come next.

"I want you. You know that. I love you, Vic. God, I’d die for you. No matter what I feel for Mulder or if I want him or not, I’d never give you up or do anything to hurt you. You have to know that, Vic."

"I know that, Alex," Vic managed a parody of a smile. "I know you love me. But... even after everything he’s done to you, you want him, don’t you?"

"As much as he wants me after everything I’ve done to him," Alex replied, unable to prevent himself from defending Mulder. "Yes, I do. But not as much as I love you. There’s no contest, babe."

Picking up a stone, Vic tossed it into the water and spent an inordinate amount of time watching the ripples before he spoke again. "Is this how you felt when it was me and Mac, when you decided to give me that pleasant surprise?" he asked almost too quietly to be heard. "No, I don’t suppose you did," he continued quickly, not allowing the other man to answer. "You don’t have my insecurities when it comes to things like this."

Glancing over at his lover’s profile, Vic was struck anew by the physical similarities and the emotional disparities. But that had more to do with the lives they had lived and their coping mechanisms. Alex’s life had been... hell would have been a kind description of the past few years of his lover’s life, and even then all he knew was simply the tip of the iceberg.

Vic supposed that was one of the reasons why he felt so acrimonious towards the FBI agent. Granted Alex hadn’t been a saint, not by a long shot, but unlike Alex, Mulder had always had a support network, people to support and love him. Alex had been alone and caught between a rock and a hard place, fighting a war that no one would acknowledge or support and fighting for the ‘good’ side even if his intentions weren’t as altruistic as Saint Mulder’s search for truth, aliens and the American way, yadda yadda yadda.

Taking a deep breath, Vic asked again. "What do you want, ‘lex?"

"In a perfect world? What we already have and Mulder too. But I know that’s not realistic, and I’d never ask you, either of you, to accept that. I’m happy with you; the time for Mulder and me passed."

Vic was torn. Part of him wanted to be a selfish prick and say to hell with Mulder; the son of a bitch had thrown away one of the most amazing men on the planet, and what was his loss was Vic’s gain. The other part kept thinking of the fact that Alex had gone out and kidnapped, literally _kidnapped_ Mac for him because his lover had known that Vic had wanted Mac too.

In a perfect world, as Alex had put it, he’d have told Alex to go for it and not worry about it. After all, wasn’t that the stereotypical gay relationship? Fuck who you want and come back to the one you love.

But that was the whole crux of Vic’s dilemma. Mulder wouldn’t just be a fuck. Mulder would be about making love, and Vic wasn’t sure if he could handle that. With Mac it had evolved, and both of them had fallen for their softhearted lover who hid that particular quality of his under a mile of bravado and insecurity.

However, with Mulder the relationship had always been there, lying beneath the surface, unacknowledged but nevertheless real, and that was what terrified Vic the most. The idea that perhaps Alex would go to Mulder and realize that perhaps, just perhaps he’d been too hasty when he’d given up his old life for Vic.

"Do you love him, ‘lex?" Vic whispered to the waves, knowing the other man would hear.

Alex stared out into the night, vaguely noticing that the sun had set and only stars were now reflected in the black mirror of the sea. "Yes," he replied softly. "Not the way I love you, of course. It could never be the same; nothing could be like that. But I’ve wanted him from the first moment I saw him, and as I got to know him, stubborn, selfish, amazing bastard that he is," Alex half-laughed, "I fell in love with him. For years he was the fantasy that kept me going when my life was going to hell, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tempting to find out what it would really be like, but he’s the fantasy and you’re the reality. I will _never_ risk what we have for him."

"But you love him. And you want him," Vic stated. Standing, Vic dusted off his shorts and waded into the water a bit and stared out at the stars. "And you’re gonna spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if’ where Mulder is concerned if you don’t do anything about it," the ex-cop continued without turning around. "And I don’t think I could live with that. I don’t think I _want_ to live with that."

"Vic..." Alex hesitated, not knowing what to say. There was more than a grain of truth in what the other man said. That was why Alex had drawn Mac into their lives; he’d known that Vic would always wonder. "Yeah, Mulder’ll always have a tiny part of me, but the rest of me is yours. I love you. I love our life together. That’s what I want, way more than I want Mulder."

"Get it off your chest then," Vic got out before he could change his mind. "See him; just don’t... gimme details. I really don’t want to know details."

Alex’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. "Vic... Thank you, beautiful, but no. You think I could go to Mulder, knowing that you were thinking about us, imagining... No. No way. When we get back to Toronto, I’ll tell him that there’s no room in my life for him now, and he’ll go home, and that’ll be the end of it."

"He’s in Toronto?!?!" Vic wheeled, not quite sure he heard what he thought he did. "No. No fucking way. What’d he do, follow you home like a little lost pup or something? Or did he suddenly realize he was..." Vic bit off the words, not wanting to subject Alex to his rage. It wasn’t Alex’s fault, not really.

"God, I’m such a fucking idiot," the ex-cop continued, turning back to the ocean and clenching his fists in the pockets of his cut-offs in order to try and control himself. "But you need to do this. No matter what it is you do just... fuck, just go do it, okay?" Vic growled out and began to walk away, needing space, air, anything that would help get this spiraling anger under control and let him _breathe_ again.

"Vic, please, wait." Alex reached out, hand not quite touching him. "All right, babe, if you’re sure you’re okay with this, that I won’t lose you over it, okay. I’ll see Mulder, and... we’ll see how it goes. But promise me that you’ll tell Mac what’s going on and be with him. I don’t want you sitting there imagining... well. Let Mac love you, beautiful."

"I’ll tell him, Alex, but I don’t need a baby sitter, okay? I’m a big boy, and Mac probably has better things to do than deal with my insecurities; after all he’s got mop-up and the Director to deal with," Vic replied, hesitating to drag Mac into this for fear of comparisons being drawn and the opening of not quite healed wounds. There was no comparison to Mac and Mulder, at least not in Vic’s mind, and he didn’t want to cheapen what he had with the younger man by using him as a _distraction_. Mac deserved better than that.

"Vic, you beautiful idiot, it’s not babysitting to be with your lover who loves you! Do you really think I could go to Mulder knowing that you were going to be sitting there thinking about it every minute?

"Look, let’s drop it for now, and we’ll talk about it when we get home. We still need to get back to Toronto, report to her bitchiness, and then we can decide what to do about Mulder. I want you to think about it because I’ll only do this if you’re really okay with it. He’s nothing compared to you."

"Yeah, that’s why after nearly a decade of fucking you over all you can think about is going to see him," Vic muttered under his breath. Shaking off the mood, he turned back and gave a tentative smile to Alex. "So one last night on the island with Master Mac?" he offered as a peace offering. There really wasn’t much he could do if he were honest with himself.

It was that whole let the caged bird go and if it loved you, it would return thing. He had to let Alex do this, whether Vic was ready for it or not, and Vic would have to pray that Alex truly did love him and Mac enough to come back to them.

Still uncertain and promising himself that they would discuss it once they got back to their house after reporting in the next day, Alex nodded and slid an arm around Vic’s waist as they headed back to their cabana.

**~*~**

The voices faded into nothingness as the two men moved out of the range of the high-resolution microphone. Mac sat, listening to the sound of the waves and the scratch of grains of sand against the device, before slowly flicking the switch that disconnected the mike.

He felt guilty about listening in on Alex and Vic like that but had been unable to stop himself. It had started innocently enough; he’d been going through the last of the tapes that the resort owner had compiled on his guests when he’d hit a button on the console and found himself listening to Victor and Alex. The two older men had finished their work a short while ago and gone back to the bungalow and now it seemed they were on the edge of one of their famous emotional explosions.

Wondering what had happened this time, Mac set aside the tapes and turned his attention to the conversation. It might not have been totally ethical, but forewarned was forearmed when it came to the Things. And besides, Mac had never been one for ethics anyway.

What he heard, however, made him wish that he had succumbed to a fit of honor. Okay, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t _known_ , but hearing it said out loud hurt even so. Listening to Vic and Alex’s impassioned declarations of love for each other, Mac felt adrift and alone, and he knew he wasn’t up to putting on a cheery face for the others when he went back to the bungalow - so he wouldn’t. He’d hoped that this trip might even things out a bit between all of them, but it looked like it hadn’t and probably never would.

Glancing at his watch, the ex-thief closed his eyes and took a deep breath. All right, it started here. Punching up the number of the charter airline that serviced the island, he arranged for a plane, then booked a seat on the next flight from Miami to Toronto. Maybe getting the evidence she wanted would cheer the Director up some and keep her off his ass. God knew that he wasn’t going to trust himself to hold his temper if she started harping in on him like she’d been doing lately.

Ringing the bungalow’s voice mail, Mac left a quick message for Vic and Alex, putting a note of aggrieved humor in his tone and admonishing them not to tear the place apart since he wasn’t there. Grabbing his suit jacket from the back of the chair, he pulled it on over his t-shirt, then headed out of the offices, commandeering a golf cart for the short drive to the air strip and the waiting plane.

**~*~**

Tired and out of sorts, Mac exited the jet, feeling the effects of the time change and the cocktails he’d slugged back on the flight. Flipping on his cell, he listened for messages, turning it back off when there were none and trying not to think too hard about it. The old craving was growing, but he ignored it; if he lit up a cigarette, he knew he’d be hooked again, probably worse than last time.

Recovering his car from the long-term lot, Mac tossed the carry on with the evidence in the passenger seat and roared out of the airport, heading for the reservoir to get that bit of unpleasantness out of the way. Then... he still didn’t know what he was going to do then.

Apparently Mulder the Feeb was somewhere in the city. Alex wanted him, and Vic had given his permission. Well, if that was what Alex wanted and Vic was okay with it, he supposed it was between them, just like always. The point he kept circling around and prodding like a wound, was the fact that Vic had made it plain that, even if Alex went to Mulder, he didn’t need or want to be with Mac.

"Pleasant surprise, but nothing more..." the young man murmured, unaware that he’d spoken aloud and that his expression was becoming more and more troubled. All his life he’d wanted one thing: to be needed. Looking back, he supposed it shouldn’t be a surprise that it was the one thing he’d never felt. He could barely remember his mother, and his father had left him in a rundown motel room in Hong Kong when he was ten, once he’d grown out of being cute and innocent. The Tangs had provided a family, but in the end, they’d only wanted him for what he could do for them.

The Director saw him as a tool, and Li Ann didn’t need anyone; anyway, the time she’d had to choose, it hadn’t been him she’d gone to save. Same thing would happen if someone menaced Alex or Vic - the other would move heaven and hell to save their lover. Mac was for fun, nothing more.

Shaken to the core by his revelations, Mac pulled into a parking space, sitting for long minutes after he shut the engine down to calm the shaking in his hands. He made it inside and found the Director, giving his report in a dead monotone that had her looking at him sharply, then telling him to go home and get some rest.

**~*~**

Vic looked around their house with almost a stranger’s eyes. So much had happened on the island. It had been intense. There was no other word for it. Everything was heightened, the games were erotic and required total submission to their basest selves, even if they were only there on a mission. They’d had to blend in, play the games that were necessary to fit in.

And Mac. God. He’d been so Dom, so powerful. He’d controlled Vic and Alex beautifully, making them play with and off each other in such a way that they’d had the entire island panting to see their performances.

Alex. Fuck. The Director was probably raking him over the coals at this very minute. Vic sighed and wished that he were at least at the Reservoir waiting for Alex and trying to catch up with Mac, but Alex had dropped him off, both of them hoping that Mac would be there already. With a final glance at the dining room where it all began, Vic went into the kitchen to start making a grocery list.

**~*~**

The knock on the door startled Vic out of his book. With a sly grin he headed towards the front door, wearing nothing but a smile and a pair of skintight black leather shorts. "What’s the matter, you forget how to open the door...?"

The man standing on the doorstep drank in the sight of him and smiled a little nervously. He burst into speech immediately, as if afraid of what would happen if he didn’t.

"I’m sorry, I know we agreed that I’d wait until you said it was okay for me to come here, but it’s been over a week, Alex! I was beginning to think you were dead... or had changed your mind about talking."

He reached out to place a gentle hand on the shocked looking man facing him. "I don’t want to mess up your life, Alex. I just need to know if there’s any chance you can make room for me in a small corner of it." He stared at his feet, unable to look at the gorgeous, near-naked body any longer without touching. "I guess it’s too late for there to be an us, like you said." His eyes darted up. "This Vic of yours is a lucky man." He swallowed hard. "I wish I’d realized years ago how much I love you," he added wistfully.

"You son of a bitch!" Vic growled and slammed his fist into the other man’s face. The other man who had to be the one and only hated Fox Mulder.

"Newsflash for you, fuck up. Alex is getting his ass chewed out for saving your sorry one as we speak. _I’m_ Vic Mansfield and you just made a very, very bad mistake!" Bending down, he picked Mulder up by the lapels of his suit jacket and hauled the FBI agent inside, shutting the door and locking it behind him.

"Now, let’s _talk_ about what you just said, _Agent Mulder_ ," Vic snarled as he began to stalk towards the older man.

Mulder gaped at the other man. "B-but," he stuttered, "you look just like him. That’s impossible." He stared, cataloguing Vic’s appearance despite being distracted by his body. "No," he said slowly, ignoring his danger as Vic neared in favor of this new puzzle. "Not identical, not quite. A fraction shorter, a slightly more relaxed expression, more open. Not a clone then or a shapeshifter." His eyes widened when Vic grabbed him again.

"Awwwh, what’s a matter, _Agent_?" Vic hissed. "Disappointed you couldn’t skewer me with an ice pick and get rid of me so you could have Alex all to yourself?" Slamming Mulder hard enough into the foyer wall to knock down and shatter the mirror there, Vic ignored the slight pain of glass shards cutting his flesh in favor of wrapping his hands around Mulder’s throat.

"Now talk, Agent Mulder, explain to me why you come to _my_ home and try to fuck up Alex’s life yet again. And you’d better make it good. I seem to have picked up more of ‘lex’s habits than are good for me because I have the overwhelming urge to kill you right where you stand just on the principal of it."

"Even if I _did_ want to kill you," Mulder observed calmly despite the hands around his throat, "it wouldn’t do me any good. Alex loves you now. Even if he hadn’t told me, I’d have known just from listening to him talk about you. He’d kill me if I hurt you.

"But he’d never forgive you if you killed me either." Mulder smiled crookedly. "He... cares what happens to me. If I’d opened my eyes sooner—" He broke off abruptly, shaking his head. "But I didn’t. I’ll settle for having his friendship," he said with a painful smile. "I’ll take what I can get. I just don’t want to lose him completely."

For a moment he didn’t see Vic but all the people he’d lost, either to death or betrayal, over the years. His sister, father, mother, Scully for a time, Diana, Phoebe... he couldn’t bear to add Alex to that list. His eyes refocused on the other man, but he had no idea that his pain was clear in their depths.

Vic visibly wilted as he looked at Mulder, all the anger going out of him and leaving a devastating sense of loss behind. His hands fell away from the older man’s neck, and he stumbled backwards, not even feeling when he walked over the shattered glass. It didn’t compare to the shattering of his heart.

"Why. Why did you have to come here? God, I didn’t need to know that... that..." Stumbling away, Vic barely made it to the bathroom before he wretched up the contents of his stomach, the bile making his throat burn and leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he sagged to the floor, not even looking up when he heard footsteps and felt the other man crouch beside him. "Why did you have to come and destroy _my_ life? You never even knew me. I’ve never done anything other than love Alex. So why?"

Mulder stood up long enough to run the cold water for a moment and fill a glass, then he crouched down again and handed it to the other man. "How have I destroyed your life?" He shook his head. "You have Alex, and he’d clearly do anything to stay with you."

He gestured, indicating the house, the life Alex had here. "He put down roots for you. He wouldn’t even stay on one continent for _me_... not that I gave him cause to or any indication that I wanted him to. I can’t hurt you, Vic."

"But he always goes back for you," Vic whispered painfully. "No matter where we are or what we’re doing, if the phone rings and you’re in trouble, he is gone like a shot. God. I love him so much it hurts. Maybe he should have killed me in New Orleans..." Getting up, Vic felt as if he’d aged in the space of minutes. He felt _old_.

The blood on the floor alerted him that something was less than right. Looking down, he saw the cuts, and the pain finally decided to make itself known now that his adrenaline kick was wearing off. "Shit. If they come home and see me like this, see the house like this... ahh hell."

Not even caring that Mulder was still in the bathroom watching him, Vic quickly shucked out of the leather shorts and stepped into the shower to wash the blood and bile away. "Get cleaned, clean up the glass and the blood everywhere... come up with a reason why the mirror got broken... explain that Alex has a ‘guest’. Shit. Alex said he’d call before he left the Reservoir, didn’t hear the phone; how much time do I have?" Vic muttered to himself as he scrubbed vigorously, hissing as soap entered the fresh wounds.

"Slammed the door too hard, mirror fell, got hit by flying glass, wasn’t wearing shoes and walked on a few pieces. Please let him believe that so he doesn’t get all protective again," Vic sighed as he climbed out of the shower to find himself face to face with Fox Mulder yet again.

" _What_ are you raving about? Just tell him the truth. He’ll probably be glad the shoe was on the other foot for a change." Mulder shrugged. "You should let me take a look at those cuts. Some of them are pretty deep." He handed Vic a towel and turned to rummage in the medicine cabinet, finding bandages and antiseptic.

"Plenty of first-aid supplies, I see," he observed dryly. "Sit down and let me see." He couldn’t help ogling the younger man a little. He was every bit as gorgeous as Alex. He carefully cleaned the small wounds, his touch gentle and sure, and he somehow managed not to caress all that golden skin.

"Mac’s the other guy you live with?" he asked desperately, talking to distract himself from the temptation to lick Vic from head to toe.

"Umm, yeah he is. We’ve been partners for about three years now, and the first aid supplies are actually a little low for what we normally go through. Our job is kinda... rough," Vic admitted as he tried not to stare into the hazel eyes looking up at him.

"As for why... Alex tends to get, well, _upset_ over strange things. He nearly had fits once when I... never mind," Vic mumbled as he realized that in his efforts to distract himself he nearly babbled out that he’d passed out after being fucked blind. Not a good thing to admit to this man.

Was it just him, or was it getting hot in here? Vic’s tongue darted out to wet his suddenly dry lips as his eyes darted around and then down to his lap that suddenly decided to twitch to life. What the fuck was going on here? Why was he suddenly attracted to _Fox Mulder_ when he had Alex and Mac?

Mulder froze, staring back into suddenly dark, green eyes. He saw the stirring at Vic’s groin and knew he wasn’t the only one confused and attracted to someone he shouldn’t be. Unable to resist, he braced one hand on Vic’s thigh and rose somewhat from his crouch, pressing his mouth to the Canadian’s.

His movement knocked away the towel that Vic had loosely fastened around his waist, barely covering himself, and Mulder found his hand inches from a twitching, growing cock. He groaned desperately.

Moaning as he felt the petal soft lips brush against his, Vic didn’t even notice the towel fall away. All he heard was Mulder’s groan. His eyes drifted shut as his brain turned off, and all he felt was pleasure. Different, unique, not at all what he was used to, but nonetheless delicious.

Letting his eyes drift open once more, Vic was faced with reality. This wasn’t Alex or Mac. This was Fox Mulder. The man who Alex loved first. But what did he _really_ think and feel for this man? "You confuse me," the ex-cop admitted softly. "I should despise you but... I don’t. I don’t know what I should feel."

Mulder sighed. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that... no matter how much I wanted to," he added in a mutter. "I don’t want to cause problems for any of you."

He started to stand up, but his knees had stiffened from crouching for so long, and he stumbled forward, his hand coming to rest against Vic’s erection.

Both men froze.

Mulder’s eyes slowly dropped to his hand covering the silky hard shaft, and he watched with fascination as his hand began to move, stroking Vic.

Vic’s breath caught in his throat, and a whimper of pleasure managed to escape. "Oh God, that feels good," he moaned as his head lolled back against the cool tile of the bathroom, not sure what to do or what to say.

Mulder, attracted to Vic and having wanted Alex for years, couldn’t resist any longer. Rather than standing up, he knelt down and leaned forward, lush lips parting then surrounding Vic’s cock. He tasted so good, and Mulder wondered vaguely if Alex would taste the same.

He concentrated utterly on the shaft filling his mouth, licking and sucking and tasting. He was almost able to pretend that this was Alex, but in a way, he didn’t want to. He pulled off only to lip along the length of the shaft, the tip of his tongue teasing the sensitive flesh. When he reached the velvety sac, he glanced up, meeting dazed green eyes, and smiled. "Taste so good, Vic," he murmured before sucking his balls into his mouth.

Oh God, was this really happening? Was Mulder actually sucking him off? Vic’s brain shut down, and his body took over. And his body wanted - desperately.

Threading his fingers through the older man’s silky hair, Vic pulled Mulder off of him gently. "The bed is more comfortable, and it’s not that far away. Just through those doors. If you want to, that is..." he trailed off, watching Mulder’s reaction carefully. Mulder _had_ called him Vic, not Alex, so he wasn’t just using Vic as a fantasy tool, but still... Vic had to be sure.

Mulder laughed shakily. "Yeah, I do. Crazy considering I just met you, but I want you, Vic." He emphasized the man’s name slightly, understanding his fears without consciously thinking about it. He leaned against Vic’s leg, pressing his erection into his calf.

He stood up and offered a hand to the other man to draw him to his feet, unable to resist stealing another kiss once Vic was standing so close to him. This time his tongue explored the silky interior of the younger man’s mouth, and he moaned his pleasure.

Wrapping his arms around Mulder’s neck, Vic refused to let go of the older man’s mouth as he walked them backwards into the bedroom. When his legs touched the end of the bed, he let himself fall backwards onto it, bringing Mulder with him.

Immediately rolling them over so that Mulder was underneath him, Vic straddled the older man and began to strip off his tie and undo his shirt. "Want you too, Fox," Vic replied softly, looking down at the toned and tanned body beneath him. "God, I want you." That said, he bent once more to recapture the lush mouth that had tormented his now begging erection and rock hard balls.

Mulder gasped and began to squirm beneath Vic’s weight, not trying to get away but rather to get closer. His legs parted, letting Vic settle between them, and their cocks pressed together. He moaned into Vic’s mouth, writhing sluttishly, eager for the other man.

"Fuck me," he groaned, his hands cupping Vic’s ass hard and pulling him closer.

"Fox, you need to get undressed before I can do that," Vic chuckled softly. "And Alex says _I’m_ a slut," he continued with a good-natured grin.

Climbing off the federal agent in order to make it easier to remove Mulder’s clothes, Vic took the opportunity to grab the bottle of lube from the bedside table and pull out a couple of condoms from the drawer that had been part of the Director’s housewarming present. "Chocolate, banana or strawberry? And don’t ask," Vic grinned as he held up the aforementioned flavor choices.

Mulder rapidly shed his jeans after kicking off his sneakers. The boxers came off with them, and within moments he was lying naked on the bed, his legs spread, eyes fixed hungrily on Vic.

Vic’s question broke through his fog of lust, and he mustered the brainpower to reply. "Banana," he said, then added, "Don’t put the others away."

"Got some high expectations, don’t we?" Vic replied with a quirked eyebrow. "It’s your turn, next time by the way. I suddenly want a taste of federal agent," the younger man continued with a shit-eating grin. "Think you can handle that?"

Mulder grinned back. "I can handle anything you can dish up, Mansfield." He grabbed Vic and yanked him back down on top of him, his long runner’s legs winding around the other man’s waist. "Want to concentrate on _this_ time right now," he panted, arching and writhing against Vic’s body. "Want you in me, filling me, making me come."

Vic groaned as heat speared him. Fuck. This man was... sex on a stick was the phrase. Was this how he sounded to Alex? He’d have to suggest they tape themselves just so Vic could see exactly how slutty he was. The thought made his cock jump.

The moan of the man beneath him made him want to be buried in a tight sheath of flesh, but first things first. Tearing into the condom, Vic handed it to Mulder then crawled up the older man’s chest to straddle his shoulders. "Put it on me. With your mouth only," Vic purred.

Mulder’s eyes widened, and a tiny whimper escaped him as they fixed on the hard, dripping cock. Unable to resist, his tongue darted out to taste the precome leaking from Vic. Despite the other man’s insistence on a condom, Mulder figured that Alex’s lover had to be clean, so he couldn’t see any reason to deny himself a brief taste.

He pulled back and put the condom in his mouth, then held Vic’s hips as he pressed his lips against the tip of his erection, slowly rolling the latex sheath down as he swallowed him to the root. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled back again, the flavor of banana strong in his mouth, but beneath it, he could still taste Vic.

"Now fuck me!"

"Anyone tell you you’re a pushy bottom?" Vic chuckled as he slid down Mulder enough to settle himself between the lean thighs of the older man. Grabbing the lube, Vic made sure his cock was nice and greasy then swung Mulder’s legs up to rest on his shoulders and slid inside the awaiting heat with a long, slow stroke.

"Fuck, so tight," Vic moaned in a daze of lust as he finally felt his balls press against the older man’s ass. "Christ, I could get used to this. God, you’d be wonderful in the playroom," the Agency man continued, a darkling smile spreading across his face at the thought of Mulder chained to a wall with any number of their toys stimulating and denying him pleasure. He’d be beautiful in his anxiety.

"Playroom?" Mulder gasped, trying not to whimper, but it felt so fucking good. His back arched, taking Vic a little deeper inside him, and his hands gripped the other man’s buttocks.

"God, _please_ fuck me!" he wailed, releasing Vic’s ass to reach for his own cock and nipples, desperate for more stimulation.

"Don’t worry, pretty Fox. If Alex reacts the way I think he will, you’ll get your introduction to the playroom, and I’ll be reminded of certain pertinent facts in our relationship. And then there’s Mac’s reaction," Vic grinned as he withdrew and then slammed back into the older man, relishing the tiny yowls of pleasure Mulder was emitting. This was _much_ better than beating on the man.

Over and over again he slammed into Mulder, pumping into the waiting flesh of the older man. "That’s it. God yeah, c’mon, handsome, scream for me!"

And Mulder did. He writhed and squirmed and screamed, his hands jerking at his cock and nipples, his ass clamping down on the thick shaft impaling him. He wailed his pleasure as he came, creamy fluid pumping over his hand and belly. He yelled so loudly that neither of them heard the front door open or the sound of footsteps that came to abrupt halt in the doorway.

Alex gaped at the sight in front of him, wondering if he’d fallen through the looking glass. There was no fucking way he was watching his Vic fuck his Fox. But god _damn_ they were hot!

The feeling of Mulder clamping down on his cock in a vise-like grip was enough to send Vic over the edge. With a quiet moan he orgasmed and then collapsed onto Mulder’s sweaty, sticky chest.

"Fuck, no wonder Alex likes driving me crazy like that. Jesus, I thought you were gonna squeeze my dick right off, you were milking me so hard," the younger man chuckled as he rested his weight on his elbows and looked down at the sated man beneath him. "So, this mean we’re friends now, Fox?"

Mulder just moaned and smiled widely, then opened his eyes. Before he could say a word, he saw Alex and froze, huge eyes fixed on the man staring at him in _his_ bed with _his_ lover. "Oh fuck."

"Umm, yeah, that would be what we just did," Vic chuckled as he rolled off the older man and onto his back, sliding out of Mulder with a groan. However, the look of shock on the FBI agent’s face had Vic following his gaze to the door and... "’Lex?"

Alex stared in utter stupefaction at the two men in his bed. He opened his mouth and shut it again without finding anything to say. He watched the other two men squirm under his gaze. "Mulder," he said finally. "You didn’t tell me you knew Vic." He stared at the pair with raised eyebrows, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"I... uh..." Mulder looked from Alex to Vic and clearly wished he were anywhere else. "I was worried about you, so I came to see if you were okay, and I met Vic, and we..."

"Fucked," Alex supplied helpfully, the green gaze turning to Vic inquisitively.

"Would you rather we have beat each other into a bloody pulp?" Vic asked softly, trying to gauge his lover’s reaction even as he reached out to squeeze Fox’s hand supportively.

Getting off the bed, Vic walked over to Alex and kissed him softly. "Did you like watching us, ‘lex?" he purred, rubbing against his mate and feeling the bulge in Alex’s pants.

"What do you think?" Alex growled, taking Vic’s mouth hungrily, his hands moving over the familiar body. "Go lie down beside him," he ordered, his eyes flicking from one to the other as he stripped off his own clothes. "I’m going to take you right there, beautiful, and make you scream, then I’m going to take my turn with Mulder." Hot green eyes flashed to the wary FBI agent. "I’ve waited long enough."

Mulder whimpered, but he didn’t move.

Vic gasped as his spent and sated body began to rouse all over again. "And what’ll you do if I don’t," he smirked, backing away from the older man. "Maybe I found I _liked_ topping. Fox makes a yummy bottom. So receptive and he’s even sluttier than I am. Gotta respect that in a man," Vic teased as he rounded the bed, waiting with gleaming eyes.

Alex grinned. So Vic wanted to play, did he? "Well, first I’ll grab you... like this," he added, putting action to the words. "And then I’ll pull you across my lap, like this," as he sat on the edge of the bed, close to Mulder, "and I’ll redden your ass to remind you of what we both like, baby." His hand fell on Vic’s ass, then he paused, giving his lover a chance to object for real if he couldn’t handle this with Mulder present.

Vic squirmed uncomfortably on Alex’s lap, not sure if he could do this in front of someone else. They hadn’t even played like this in front of Mac yet. That was what decided it for him. "Punish me later, ‘lex," he replied, voice pitched low for only his lover to hear. "I can’t do this in front of Mac yet, so don’t ask me to in front of a complete stranger."

Now that the passion was cooling, Vic began to rationalize what had happened. He’d fucked Mulder. Jesus Christ, he’d just fucked Fox Mulder, and Alex had watched and liked it. And now he wanted to... "I, umm... excuse me," Vic threw himself off Alex’s lap and headed into the relative safety of the bathroom. Oh fuck, what had he just done?

Alex jumped up and chased after Vic, throwing a quick apologetic glance at Mulder as he did but not stopping long enough to say anything. He slipped inside the bathroom and shut the door behind him, moving to his lover and wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have done that. I promised you that I wouldn’t, and then... All I can say is that I was so happy that you and Mulder were... getting along that I wasn’t thinking straight. Forgive me?" he pleaded softly, knowing he’d screwed up royally.

"I... it’s just... I _fucked_ him ‘lex," Vic managed to choke out. "And I like it. It was good. It was better than good; it was great! I’m, Jesus, I really am the slut you tease me about being. I didn’t even stop to think," Vic trailed off helplessly.

"What am I turning into, ‘Lex?" he whispered painfully.

Alex tightened his grip on his lover, pain twisting his face. He kept bringing pain to this man, no matter what he did. "You’re not turning into anything, Vic. God, baby, you were upset, and you used sex. Men have done that since time began. But you didn’t hurt him, and it sure as hell wasn’t rape, beautiful."

He sighed. "I know how sexy Mulder is, Vic. There’s nothing wrong with wanting him. And after we talked last night before we came home, well, I’m not surprised you were thinking about fucking him. Don’t punish yourself, baby. You knew that he was going to be involved with us somehow, and you were establishing yourself as higher in the pack."

"I know. And I know we talked, and I know what I said but... I’m scared Alex. Of losing you. Sounds crazy, but there it is. I’ve never been so fucking terrified in my life. Facing the Tangs, trumped up prison charges, nearly blown to bits in a warehouse - it was all a cakewalk compared to the thought of losing you now.

"God, listen to me. I’m a fucking basket case. Look - go play with your feebie and let me, I dunno, decompress. He’s probably doing that thing you told me about, blaming himself. Shit, he’s even more angst ridden then I am, and that’s saying a lot. Go take care of your Fox, Alex. I’ll be fine."

Alex shook his head emphatically. "No fucking way I’m leaving you alone right now, Vic. No matter how much I love Mulder, I love you more. I will _not_ lose you, baby, not even for him." Despite himself, he darted a glance at the closed door, not wanting to lose _either_ of them.

"I’m open to suggestions here," Vic sighed, realizing that he was causing Alex unnecessary stress. "I’m trying, Alex, really I am," the younger man sighed. "And I’m not gonna, I mean I won’t, I mean, what I said in New Orleans isn’t an option for me anymore. I’d be hurting too many people I love and who love me. I know that now. I really will be okay by myself you know."

"But _I’m_ not okay with you by yourself, beautiful." Alex hugged him close. "Come talk to me. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to leave you here and go fuck him. I..." He really wanted Vic to join him and Mulder, who was hopefully still waiting, if not to participate, at least to be near him, maybe watching. Alex felt his cock twitch at the thought.

"Okay, how about a compromise? You go back in and talk to Mulder, who’s probably on the verge of hysterics or something, and I’ll take a shower. If I’m too long, you can come and drag me out, otherwise I’ll come back in as soon as I’m done, okay?" Vic asked softly, leaning his head back on Alex’s shoulder, hoping the older man would go for it.

Vic needed a few minutes alone to get his head together. So much had happened in a space of so little time. He’d been ready to kill the sonofabitch, and then he’d nearly made himself sick with grief then he’d fucked said sonofabitch and found himself actually liking the guy. And _then_ Alex had shown up. Shit, what a fucking day.

Alex hesitated then nodded. He didn’t like it, but he knew he had to give Vic some space. His lover had told him in the past that he hovered, and he knew it was true, but he couldn’t help it. Vic meant too much to him. "Don’t be too long, Vic." He glanced back once before he left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom.

He nearly slumped with relief when he saw that Mulder was still there, though now dressed and standing staring out the window. "Mulder?" he asked tentatively.

Mulder turned around and looked at him silently. "He looks a lot like you."

"Yeah," Alex shrugged. "Weird, huh? I suppose if we traced the family trees back far enough we’d find some common ancestor that we both look like. Whatever."

"So now what?"

"I’d like you to stay, for us to work out what this thing between us is," Alex admitted. "Vic’s okay with that, and I think Mac is too. I..." He stepped forward and kissed Mulder suddenly. "Stay."

Mulder nodded. "But you two need to deal with... today," he said in his usual monotone. "This can wait."

"There’s a guestroom down the hall," Alex suggested.

Mulder nodded. "I’ll see you in the morning then."

He left the room and Alex sat down to wait for Vic to emerge from the shower.

Standing under the hot spray for the third time that day, Vic let his mind empty of all its racing thoughts. If he thought he could get away with it, he would have headed to the hot tub instead, thrown on one of those smoky jazz CDs he and Alex had picked up in New Orleans, poured himself a whiskey and soda and just relaxed.

It was something that Alex had taught him actually. Sometime you just had to shelve something and the answer would come to you, and the best way was to relax and let go of life for a while. But Alex and Mulder were waiting, and the water was turning tepid.

Turning off the tap, Vic grabbed his robe from the back of the door and stepped out of the shower. A fast brush through his hair and he was ready. Idly he scratched his stomach and realized that his hair was beginning to grow back again. He’d need to ask Alex to take care of that soon.

Opening the door hesitantly, Vic popped his head out. Not seeing Mulder and Alex rolling around on the bed, he stepped out only to see his lover in one of the armchairs by the window. "Where’d Fox go, ‘lex?"

"One of the guestrooms," Alex replied. "Didn’t feel right to do anything else, not the way things were between us. Told you before, I won’t put him before you. I need things to be right between us, Vic." He stood and walked over to Vic, placing his hands on his lover’s waist.

"Lemme guess, you reported to the Director and rushed right home," Vic smiled, changing the subject even as he moved into his lover’s arms. "Did you stop to eat at least?"

At Alex’s negative shake of his head, Vic sighed in loving exasperation. "What would you do without me to take care of you, big bad assassin man?" the ex-cop teased his lover softly. "C’mon. Let’s go get dinner started, I’m sure Mulder’s starved too and Mac is always hungry. If you’re really good, I may even let you nibble before dinner."

"And if I’m really good at the nibbling, will you let me taste the food too?" Alex teased back, going along with the game. He eyed Vic appreciatively. "You planning on just wearing that robe, beautiful? Not that I have any objections to being able to ogle you _and_ easy access."

**~*~**

Mac left the Agency and drove aimlessly around before pulling off at a parking lot next to the lake, watching the water and thinking. _Maybe if I talk to them..._ Doubting it would change anything, he pulled back out onto the highway, heading for the house. He’d lost track of time, had no idea if Vic and Alex were back yet or not, but he guessed he’d find out when he got there.

There was a strange car in the drive, and, as Mac got out of the car and peered in the glass panels by the door, he could see a man he didn’t recognize talking to Vic and Alex. _Looks like Mulder made it and is still in one piece so far._ A glance in a side window showed him the table was set for three. His fingers closed on the door handle, then Mac paused, glancing in again at the others who were deep in a heated conversation.

With a sigh, Mac turned away and headed back to his car. This was between the three of them, what he thought didn’t really matter at this junction. Sliding in behind the wheel, he turned the key and backed out of the drive, gunning the engine once he was on the road, making a couple of stops on the way back to the city and his old apartment.

**~*~**

They’d coaxed Mulder out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen to help make dinner. Alex had changed into old, faded jeans, and nothing else, and Vic was still wearing the robe. Mulder kept looking from one to the other, and his own jeans were growing increasingly tight. He was wondering if this had been a huge mistake.

Watching the two men together made Mulder realize how important they were to each other. They worked together seamlessly, only bumping when they wanted to, touching often, frequently finishing each other’s sentences or answering questions only half-asked. He shouldn’t be here.

"I should go," he said suddenly, startling the two men who’d been arguing over which spices to put into a dish. "I shouldn’t be here. Thanks for the offer of dinner though." He smiled painfully and turned to leave, wishing desperately he’d realized what he could have had with Alex when there had still been a chance for him.

Vic rolled his eyes heavenward. "Jesus, we just get one thing settled and another pops up. Do our lives ever run smoothly?" Shoving all the spices into Alex’s arms and leaving the ex-assassin gaping on one side of the island, Vic rounded it to glare at Mulder.

"You’re. Not. Leaving. Alex wants you here, you’re growing on me, and you haven’t met Mac yet. So shut up and deal with it, G-man. Got it?"

Alex took one look at his glaring lover and the familiar, stubborn expression on Mulder’s face and prudently decided to keep quiet.

Mulder glared right back, looking sulky. "Look, I don’t need to be hit in the head to know when I’m a fifth wheel. You two certainly don’t need me here." He crossed his arms, looking like a pouting child who’d been told he couldn’t have his favorite toy.

Vic stared at the other man and then quite suddenly burst into laughter. "God, you’re doing almost the exact same thing Mac did - only he did it better. What’s so hard to get here, Mulder? Alex," Vic paused a little then continued, his voice calm and even.

"Alex loves you. He wants you. I want Alex to be happy. I also think that you’re not half bad to look at and one hell of a workout. I could probably grow to have some rather strong feelings for you given time to get to know you better, despite this urge I have to march you to the playroom and paddle your ass for acting like a spoiled and petulant child. All you’re doing is making Alex unhappy, me guilty, and yourself into a pathetic martyr type. Get over it."

Mulder gaped at Vic, stunned by that little speech, and ignored Alex, who was nearly doubled over with laugher on the other side of the room. "Are you sure your last name isn’t Scully?" he asked dryly.

"I don’t get you. Why do you want me to stay? You sure as hell didn’t want me here when I got here." He stared at Vic, honestly baffled. If _he_ had Alex, he sure as hell wouldn’t be inviting anyone else to share.

"Who the hell is Scully?" Vic growled then turned and threw the pepper grinder at Alex when he burst out into howls of laughter. "Yuck it up, asshole, you’ll get yours tonight," Vic threatened after he bit back his own chuckles at Alex’s impromptu rain dance to avoid the flying object while keeping hold of what was in his hand. "And Baryshnikov you ain’t."

Turning back to Mulder, the former cop sobered almost immediately. "He loves you. I love him. I want him happy, and he wants you. He gave me Mac for the same reasons and grew to love our ex-thief almost as much as I do, so how could I do any less for him? He’s my life," Vic replied simply.

Mulder frowned, still confused and not sure how the hell he fit into this weird relationship, but he sat back down. "I don’t understand you," he admitted, "but I think I want both of you." He groaned and dropped his head onto his arms, now folded on the counter. "I shoulda stuck with aliens and international conspiracies. They were easier."

Alex frowned slightly as he watched Mulder. He laid the spices down on the counter and moved to Mulder’s side, tentatively placing a hand on the older man’s shoulder.

Mulder raised his head, and their eyes met, each seeking answers in the other’s gaze.

Vic suddenly felt very much like the fifth wheel Mulder claimed he was. They were so - well so beautiful together, he thought morosely. _They have a history together that I can’t share with Alex. They have a past that I don’t._ Quietly backing off, he watched the two men continue to communicate with nothing more than their eyes and silently left the kitchen.

Moving quickly, Vic wrote a quick note to Alex saying he was going to retrieve Director from the kennel, grabbed his car keys and slipped out the front door.

Alex slowly lowered his head and kissed Mulder, tasting that lush mouth, imagining that he could still taste Vic as well. Soon, though, all he was thinking about was Mulder, how they fit together, how much he wanted him, how long he’d waited. He pulled the other man to his feet so he could press against him, finding an erection to match his own.

"I want to fuck you," he groaned, rubbing against Mulder. "You gonna let me do that, Fox?"

Alex certainly did have a way of distracting a man, Mulder groaned as he licked his lips, rediscovering his former partner’s taste. "Damn, Alex, you really want to, here? Now? But what about Vi... hey, where’d he go?" Mulder asked, looking around. He hoped he hadn’t scared Vic off; he was actually looking forward to playing with both Alex and Vic, comparing and contrasting the two, as it were.

Alex looked around and frowned when he couldn’t see Vic. He let go of Fox to look for his missing lover, discovering the note Vic had left on the hall table. He cursed softly, but it was too late to catch him, and glancing back at the rumpled Mulder, he realized that he did want this time with the man. He’d probably never have taken Mulder one-on-one if Vic hadn’t forced his hand, but he couldn’t say he was sorry.

"He left to get the dog out of the kennel," he explained, slowly stalking closer to his prey. "He’ll be back later, but for now it’s just us." He smiled slowly. "Time for _us_ to work things out between us. I’ve been waiting for this ass for years," he rasped, curving his hands over Mulder’s butt.

Mulder gaped at Alex and then moaned softly. "Christ, Krycek, warn a guy will ya?" he panted then decided to turn the tables. Pushing into Alex, he herded the younger man back against a wall and rubbed his rock hard erection against him. "Who says my ass is that easy to get? Vic was different. He and I were getting to know each other. You... you’re gonna have to earn it."

Alex laughed, a wild look in his green eyes. "And how should I earn it, pretty Fox? Should I tell you how good I’m going to make you feel, how I’m going to fuck you till you can’t walk and then I’m gonna do it all again? Should I do that, or should I just drop down here and suck your brains out your cock till you beg me for it?" He laughed again, rubbing against Mulder eagerly.

"Think you’re that good, do you?" Mulder shot back. "Maybe, just maybe I want to fuck you, _pretty_ Alex. Did you ever think of that?" he purred as he bent to lick his way down Alex’s neck. "After all it would be ample payback for all the times I ended up on my ass because of you, being on and _in_ your ass that is. Not to mention payback for all the reamings I took from Skinner as a result of going off half-cocked whenever you crooked your finger. You got me in a lot of trouble, Alex, and I think you need to pay."

Alex grinned wickedly. "Is that supposed to turn me off?" He reached down to cup Mulder’s groin, moaning softly as he traced the growing erection. "I’ve dreamed of having this inside me for years." He chuckled. "It might be more comfortable in bed rather than against a wall though." He licked at Mulder’s lips hungrily.

"My room," Mulder suddenly announced decisively. Somehow it felt... wrong to be with Alex in his bed. Not yet. Maybe someday but not yet, not them alone. It would have been almost - well disrespectful in Fox’s mind. "I want you naked and ready for me, Alex. I want your ass all nice and slick and I want to fuck you so hard you’ll wince when you sit down. And then maybe, if you can get it up I’ll let you return the favor."

Alex just grinned, knowing that Mulder would be the one having trouble sitting down the next day. He was used to keeping up with both Vic and Mac, and all Mulder had had recently was his own hand... and Vic. He frowned. He still could barely believe Vic had fucked Mulder.

"Whatever you want, Foxy," he smirked. He turned and led the way down the hall, sauntering to give Mulder a good look at his ass. Once he got inside the room, he stopped beside the bed and unfastened his jeans, pushing them down, then sprawled on the bed, on his belly.

Mulder groaned and shook his head, what the hell was he thinking? Following Alex back here, messing up his life and now... now it was too late to back out. He was here, he’d been given tacit approval by Vic, and Alex wanted him. This Mac person was an unknown quantity but... he was nuts and he was horny as hell.

Following Alex into his bedroom, Mulder stood there staring appreciatively. Different and yet the same, he really needed to have them both naked and lying next to each other to give it proper ‘scientific’ analysis. Maybe someday soon, if they’d let him. "You’re... breathtaking Alex," Fox husked as he approached the bed. "I can’t believe that you’re, that _I’m_ here and you really want, I mean you don’t mind me, fuck I don’t know what I mean. I just can’t believe it."

Alex laughed. "I’ve been trying to get it through to you for years, Mulder. Now get your ass over here and fuck me so I can fuck you." He squirmed enticingly. "Come on, Fox. Fuck me." Hot green eyes peered over his shoulder at the other man, and his legs parted, giving Mulder a good look at what was waiting for him.

Gulping, Mulder looked at the feast spread before him and before he knew it he was out of his clothes and pulling on a condom while crawling up the bed. "I said slick and waiting. You don’t seem slick to me, Alex. Lube yourself," Mulder husked.

Alex reached over and opened the drawer of the nightstand, pulling out the lube they kept there, just in case. He squeezed some onto his fingers, then reached back to work one inside himself, soon adding a second. He smiled into the pillow at the soft sounds he heard from Mulder.

"There," he said, pulling his fingers away, "all ready. So whatcha gonna do with me?"

Mulder didn’t’ waste any time. Positioning the head of his cock against the well-oiled opening, the FBI agent slid inside with a groan. "Jesus," he whispered as he waited for Alex to get used to him, finally believing that this was real - that he was inside Alex Krycek.

When the younger man’s hips thrust back impatiently, Mulder chuckled. "That mean you want me to move or something?" The Russian oath confirmed his suspicions, and so Mulder began to move, slowly at first and gradually picking up speed until he was fucking Alex with all the pent up rage, lust and what ever other emotion he had for the man being conveyed in every jab of his hips.

Alex groaned ecstatically. Mulder was inside him. Fox Mulder was fucking him. It was a fucking wet dream and he was wide awake to enjoy it. He drove back, meeting each thrust, increasing the speed of their movements, and he worked the muscles of his ass to milk the other man. He was loving every second of this, and he intended to make Mulder come, to make sure that he drove the other man crazy with pleasure, and then he was going to fuck him blind.

"That’s it, Fox, fuck me hard," he rasped, raising himself slightly to decrease the friction on his cock.

Mulder groaned at the heated words and increased the tempo of his thrusts. It was just so fucking good. Over and over he powered into the body writhing beneath him until, with a last thrust and a breathless wail he came hard, filling Alex with his seed. "Oh Jesus, that was..." he gasped tiredly, collapsing on Alex’s back.

Alex moaned, feeling Mulder’s seed jet into him, and he arched his back, keeping him deep inside, then he rolled them over so that Mulder was lying on his back, and he carefully separated them. He turned to face Fox, grinning at the sated expression on his face. "God, you’re gorgeous," he breathed, taking Mulder’s mouth in a deep kiss.

He reached down, finding that Mulder’s ass was still somewhat loose and slick from his earlier session with Vic, and he smiled. "Didn’t want to wash him away, huh? I’m gonna fill you again, Foxy." He positioned himself and pressed inside, groaning as he felt the tight heat close around him.

Mulder whimpered and thrust back against the invading cock. He’d been dreaming about this for years, about Alex, rat bastard, Krycek fucking him raw. And the knowledge that the man’s lover and look a like had been there just a few hours before sent shivers down his spine and straight to his cock.

"Oh Jesus, Alex," the older man wailed as he felt his lover’s balls caress his ass. "I can’t believe you’re really in me. Oh sweet... fuck me, please. Wanna feel you sliding in and out of me, using Vic’s come as lubricant. Want to feel the come of both of you inside my ass," the agent panted.

The hot words did as much to heat Alex’s blood as the feeling of Mulder’s hot ass gripping him. He could feel the slickness of Vic’s come filling Mulder, lubricating the older man for him, and he groaned.

"Fuck, Mulder, you’re an even bigger slut than my Vic," he groaned happily. "So fucking good." His hips drove back and forth, taking the man who’d filled his fantasies for years. "Even better than I imagined, so hot and tight, and knowing that Vic had you like this only a little while ago..."

"You like that idea, don’t you?" Mulder panted as he fought not to howl with lust as his prostate was rubbed again and again. "You liked watching Vic fuck me, knowing that he was yours and that he was taking me the way you take him. I bet you’re the top in that relationship, but the idea of your little Vic giving it to me the way you always wanted..." Mulder’s words died off as a sharp scream built in his throat.

"Harder, Christ, Alex, fuck me already!" the older man ordered, thrusting his hips back hard and taking his cock in his hand to pump it. Just talking about the way Mansfield had fucked him with Alex watching had him ready to come; it was so hot.

Alex suddenly grabbed Mulder’s wrist, pulling his hand away from himself. "Such a gorgeous slut," he rasped, nipping at Mulder’s wrist. "Ready to come again so soon? Pretty impressive at your age, Foxy. You’re a goddamn nympho, and if I’d known that years ago, I’d have dragged you into my bed long since."

He let go of the wrist and reached between them to jerk Mulder’s cock. "Come for me, Foxy. Wanna feel you come around me and milking my come out of me."

"If you did that, you’d never have found your Vic," the older man pointed out as he strained underneath his lover’s touch. "And then I’d never have been able to have the two of you or maybe get to watch the two of you. Oh Jesus, ALEX!" Mulder wailed as his orgasm caught him by surprise, come boiling over to coat both his stomach and the younger man’s hand as his ass muscles clenched down.

Alex groaned loudly as Mulder clamped down on him, and the climax he’d been holding back through sheer willpower ripped out of him. He rammed deep inside Mulder one final time, his body convulsed in a rictus of pleasure.

Slowly, he slumped on top of the other man, rubbing against him as Mulder’s sperm cooled between their bellies. "Yeah," he finally answered, "much better to have both of you. All of you," he added thinking of his Macky.

He shifted to his side after pulling out of Mulder, lazily swirling a finger through the sticky mess on his lover’s belly. "I never did ask: How long can you stay?"

"I’ve got two weeks before Skinner wants me back," Mulder said with a sigh. "I suppose I could take my vacation on top of convalescent leave but Scully would have my ass. I’m actually kinda surprised she hasn’t come looking for me yet. You know how protective she gets. Not to mention pissed for taking off and not telling her where I’m going.

"You’re really not coming back to Washington, are you, Krycek? You’ve really left the Consortium and the conspiracies behind. It’s going to be strange without you in the game. Won’t have someone to beat on anymore," Fox continued, a little melancholy at the thought that his world had shifted once more, even though some parts were for the better.

Alex turned his head to watch Mulder carefully. "You ever thought of giving it up, Foxy? You found out about your sister, you could let it go. Have a real life, you and Scully both. You’d be surprised at how good it feels."

He rolled to his feet and drew Mulder up as well. "Come on, Mulder, we need a shower." He grinned at his fragrant lover. "Not that I mind you smelling like Vic and me, but you might want to clean up a bit."

**~*~**

Tobacco and alcohol, did a man need anything more? Asking himself this question, Mac kicked his feet up on the balcony railing, taking a deep drag off his cigarette and exhaling, sending a long stream of smoke into the night air. A half-empty bottle of whiskey sat beside his chair alongside a battered package of cigarettes and a lighter. Loud, angry sounding music blared from the portable CD player - a last minute purchase when Mac realized that he didn’t have one where he was going.

His old apartment still held most of his furniture; it hadn’t fit in with the house so it was easier to let it stay. The Agency had paid the lease for the rest of the year, a fact Mac was very grateful for right now.

He’d gone by Li Ann’s first, hoping to talk to her. She’d been evasive and distant as well as smugly condescending regarding the whole situation, so he didn’t stay long.

"Depend on yourself, Malcolm. It’s safer that way," he said aloud. "Hurts less too." This was added in a slurred murmur as he took another swig from the bottle. He looked over at his cell phone, fighting the temptation to flip it open and check messages again. There hadn’t been any five minutes ago, and, as he’d sworn he wasn’t calling in again, there was no real reason to touch it. He’d left a message at the house earlier saying that he had some things to take care of and not to expect him back that night. To give his hands something to do, Mac lit one cigarette off the butt of the other, then looked back out at the night sky, letting the singer’s snarling wails and the pulsing drumbeat carry him to another place, somewhere that he didn’t have to think, or feel.

**~*~**

Vic drove aimlessly for a while, trying to settle his racing thoughts. He had a fairly good idea of what was happening at home and, surprisingly enough, he was okay with it. He was okay with a lot of things.

The one thing he wasn’t okay with was the fact that Mac should have been home by now but wasn’t. Where was he? Flipping on his cell phone and making a quick call to Nathan, Vic did a rapid defensive driving type U-turn to the blast of various horns, not that he gave a damn.

A short time later the ex-cop pulled up in front of Mac’s former place of residence. _God, baby, why did you come here instead of coming home - to_ me _?_ Vic thought worriedly. Walking into the high rise and quickly going to Mac’s floor, the older man paused in front of his lover’s door.

His hand came out to caress the wood. If you looked hard enough you could still see the paper thin gash where the knife had protruded from it so long ago. He knew this place as well as he knew his old apartment. The hours they’d spent here arguing, debating, and taunting each other. The days they’d just hung out over a six-pack of beer and a pizza watching a game together. The raw fish jokes and the dork cracks. Vic smiled softly and instead of knocking on the door let himself in with his spare key.

"When you didn’t come home, I got worried," he spoke gently into the darkened room, ignoring the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. "So, is it your turn or mine to order the pizza?"

Mac stirred enough to crack an eyelid open partway, and took a long drag on his cigarette, letting the smoke sit in his lungs long enough to burn before slowly letting it stream from his lips. "Not hungry," he grunted, prying his eyes open a little more and focusing on the blurry shape near the door.

He’d had enough to drink by now that he was feeling no pain, and so the ex-thief giggled when he finally recognized his visitor. "Look, it’s a Thing. Not sure which one, but he should be back at home with the other Things, where he belongs." He snickered again, then puffed on his cigarette, singing tunelessly along with the song on the stereo, the foot hanging over the edge of the sofa jerking in time to the music.

"No, it’s not a Thing," Vic ground out as he stalked over to his partner and lover, snatched the cigarette away and extinguished it. Standing over the younger man and practically breathing smoke of his own, Vic looked down at the inebriated young man. "It’s Vic. Your partner and your lover, remember me? The guy who’s gotten shot for you, bled for you, cried for you, and god damnit nearly died for you on more than one occasion. The one who’s watched your back for the past three years even when you hated my guts? That guy."

Hauling Mac up so that they relatively face to face, Vic ground his mouth down on the soft, mobile lips he’d grown to love so much, ignoring the taste of tar and alcohol. "I also happen to be one of the two men who love you more than life. And I’ve been worried sick. If you want to sulk, fine I can live with that. God knows I’ve given both of you enough fodder to last a lifetime, but do me a favor in the future, okay?" Vic continued, a querulous shake in his voice. "Call me when you’re gonna do this. You scared the shit out of me when you didn’t come home, Mac. I _need_ to know you’re okay. I _love you_ , you stupid shit!"

Blinking owlishly, Mac looked up at Vic, then collapsed back on the couch when the older man let go of his shirt, giggling again. "Don’t you check messages? I called. Came by too, but everyone was bu-sy..." He frowned, realizing that he had lost his smoke, then leaned over, almost losing his balance as he grabbed for the pack, only to have Vic slap it out of his hand.

"Besides," he continued, grabbing up the bottle and taking a slug of the harsh whiskey before he lost that too, "Vic-tor loves Al-ex, and Al-ex loves Vic-tor. No room left for anyone else, not even pleshant shurprishes." The slur that entered his voice made Mac frown, and he stared at the bottle in his hand, trying to gauge just how much he had had to drink, then finding that he really didn’t care.

"Pleasant...? Jesus Christ, Mac, there is nothing pleasant about you right now, although you have managed to surprise me. And guess what? I still love you, you hear me? I love you as much as I do Alex. Alex is the dark to my light, the yin to my yang, but Mac... you’re the fire that binds us all together," Vic told his lover passionately.

Suddenly coming to a decision, Vic hauled Mac to his feet and dragged him into the bedroom’s en suite bathroom. Shoving his lover into the shower he turned on the cold all the way and grinned as Mac jumped, yelped and swore in various languages. "Hey. You’re the one who got shit-faced. Now get dressed. We have some place to go. Now!"

Mac’s snort of laughter turned into a startled squawk when Vic grabbed him, then to an outraged shout when he was deluged with freezing cold water. The shock drove most of the alcoholic haze from his brain, taking with it the feeling of numb well-being that had settled on him.

"Jesus, Vic, what the fuck are you doing?" he sputtered, thrashing around, shaking himself viciously when he managed to get out of the shower stall. "Maybe I got shit-faced because I wanted to and maybe I don’t want to go out anywhere," he added belligerently, scowling at the older man.

"Well I’m gonna need you to drive me back here cause I’ll be in too much pain to do it myself," Vic replied logically as he dug into Mac’s duffel bag and pulled out a new set of sweats, tossing them at the younger man. "Now hurry up will ya?"

Walking out of the bedroom, Vic left a sputtering Mac behind him. Grabbing the whiskey bottle, he took a couple hits before wiping his mouth and making a quick call home to leave a message for Alex not to expect him back that night.

"What the - Goddamn it Vic..." Mac glared down at the rumpled clothes in his hands, and swore again. Yanking off his sopping garments, he pulled on the sweats, clearly as annoyed with having to go out dressed like that as with the prospect of going out anywhere at all.

"In case you haven’t noticed, I’m probably not the best one to be driving anyone anywhere right now," he said once he’d thrown the bedroom door open. "And just where is so goddamn important that you have to go there in the middle of the fucking night?"

"I want to get my tattoo changed. I want you on me as well. Permanent and forever. My yin-yang needs its flames. It needs you," Vic whispered as he walked over to the younger man and wrapped his arms loosely around Mac’s waist. "I need you."

The younger man’s expression crumpled briefly, before he managed to rein it in. "You don’t have to do that, Vic. I’m not going anywhere, I can’t," he sighed. "I was going to come back, once you all had settled what you needed to. Just needed time to think is all."

It was true. Maybe they didn’t need him that much, but Mac needed Vic and Alex, even though right now he almost hated the fact. Vic was feeling guilty or sorry for him or something. Whatever it was, it would pass.

"Mac, baby, I _want_ to do this. I _need_ to do this. I love you, Mac. I need you in my life as much as I need Alex. I’m incomplete without you, you idiot.

"Have I ever, in all the years we’ve worked together, lied to you Mac? You know I haven’t. Believe me now. You are just as important, as vital to me as Alex. I don’t love one of you better than the other. I don’t need one of you more than the other. It’s equal in my mind and my heart. _You both_ are the most important people in my life, equally. Believe me baby. Please," Vic begged shamelessly, his eyes glistening with the passion of his words and heart.

Mac smiled a little sadly at that. "All right, I believe you, Victor." It wouldn’t do any good to argue the point. Besides, his head was beginning to ache, making his stomach roll. He didn’t drink a lot as a rule, and the after-effects of the whiskey were beginning to haunt him. "Let me get my shoes on and we can go."

"Mac?" Vic said questioningly, a hand coming out to touch the younger man’s arm lightly, almost tentatively. "Talk to me, please? I miss you talking to me. You’re hurting. I can see it and I want to make it better, but I don’t know how. I feel so helpless... so useless..."

"Welcome to my world," Mac whispered, his voice hoarse as his throat closed up. He wanted to hug Vic, to clear the look of hurt from his eyes, but it just wasn’t that easy this time.

"What can I do to make this right?" Vic asked quietly. He felt like he was running one of the Agency’s obstacle courses with the Cleaners and Dobi hiding in the bushes with booby traps and landmines and other surprises, but there was no way he was backing down. There had to be a way to convince Mac he was sincere, but what? "Mac, please, I can’t do this alone, I need help - your help."

God, Vic, let it lie, Mac moaned to himself, shuffling past the older man and turning off the CD player before it could repeat the disc again. He started back to the couch, then gave up and simply slid down the wall, propping his elbows on his knees and rubbing his temples.

"Look," he said carefully, trying to work the words out in his head before he said them, but having a hard time doing it. "It’s nothing I haven’t known from the beginning, guess hearing it threw me for a loop is all. You - you and Alex do what you have to do, I understand that, it’s nothing new. I did call the house and left a message that I wasn’t going to be back tonight, but I guess that the Feeb had you two busy. It’s all right, I’m fine. I just needed a break is all. A week of unrelenting dom-ing can wear a guy down." He was rambling and he knew it, but what Mac didn’t realize was that he had no reason to know that Mulder was there.

Vic stared at his lover in shock. He had no idea that Mac felt this way abo..."Mac, how did you know Mulder was at the house? If you called... you came home, didn’t you? Oh, God, baby! Why didn’t you come in? We were waiting for you, Mac!" Vic choked out as he slid to sit next to Mac. "What did you hear, Mac. Tell me, please?" the ex-cop coaxed softly.

"Beat Alex to the punch with him, did you?" the younger man asked, giving a melancholy smile. "Well, guess that’s only fair since he had me first and all. Didn’t really hear anything other than that. Decided you needed to work it out and another person would just add problems." It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was as close as he was willing to get without revealing what he’d heard on the island.

"Mac, can I ask you something?" Vic asked softly, staring down at his hands. "That first time, with Alex. Was it love or just lust?"

Mac tilted his head just enough to give Vic a sidelong glance, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "For me or him?" Vic scowled, so Mac decided he’d better answer that one straight. "Lust of course. That and a healthy dose of telling myself it was you - part of the time." The last was admitted with a soft sigh.

"And with me, it was love?" Vic continued, needing the younger man to admit it. He did have a point, and if Mac wasn’t so upset he was sure the younger man would have picked it up already, which only proved just how upset Mac really was. "Were you angry with him? Upset that it wasn’t me, that he took something away that you felt should have been yours alone?"

"Yes, but..." Mac rubbed his eyes with his palms, feeling the headache intensify as he tried to wrap his whiskey-soaked brain around whatever it was that Vic was trying to get at. "I don’t understand what you want me to say. Yes, I was mad at him, because you didn’t know. But I couldn’t stay mad. He let me in for however long you both wanted me, besides, it would have hurt you."

"Kinda like I feel towards Mulder. _Alex_ wants him, Mac. Alex loved him long before he loved me, and I’ve got to accept that if I want to stay a part of Alex’s life. So I let Mulder in. And I tried to strangle him and ended up breaking a mirror and slicing myself up and barfing my guts out and fucking him raw to get it out of me. But that’s it. When I’m with you - from the first time I was with you, I loved you. You filled the spaces that Alex couldn’t. You were my friend, my strength, my partner in arms. My _best_ friend Mac. And then you were my lover and for the first time in my life I was truly whole and I had family that really mattered and really loved me.

"You’re not around until we get tired of you. You’re around until the end of time, baby. You’re my _family_ , Mac. Don’t you get it? You’re in so deep that there’s no way to carve you out of me. You’re in blood and bone and muscle and most of all, in my heart. And that won’t change. Ever."

Slowly Mac raised his head and looked at Vic, pain and more than a bit of anger radiating from his blood-shot eyes. "Then tell me this, buddy. When Alex told you Mulder was coming and you agreed that he could have him, why didn’t you need me then? You were going to go off and go play poker with the Cleaners for fuck’s sake. Even when he asked you to stay with me, it was like pulling bloody teeth to get a ‘yes’ out of you. How do you think that makes me feel? Did you think I was going to gloat that he was off screwing the Feeb? Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, it might hurt me too? Hell, I have no right to complain about anything anyone does, so I guess it didn’t."

Drained by his speech, Mac leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, wondering if the next thing he heard was Vic getting up and heading for the door. _Shouldn’t have pushed, Macky-boy. You know better than that._

"Oh God, Mac," Vic gasped. He was up on his knees in front of the younger man, holding Mac as tightly as he could before he realized it. "Oh sweet God, baby. I didn’t mean it like that. I... oh, God, what have I done?" the ex-cop moaned and finally gave into the grief that had been threatening to overwhelm him all night. Slick tears coursed down his face as he rocked against Mac, silently begging for forgiveness.

"I knew this would happen. I knew I’d fuck up somehow. I never, _never_ meant it like that, Mac. I didn’t want yours or Alex’s pity. I didn’t want to be poor, weak, queenie Vic who no longer had the balls to stand on his own and bleed like a man instead of being man enough to need to be with the people I loved.

"I was just so angry at him. He was treating me like a child who needed to be taken care of while he planned to go and fuck... that son of a bitch Mulder. I didn’t want anger in our bed, Mac, or pity, or rage, or any other negative emotion. I wanted to find a dark corner and lick my wounds and hide away from the world.

"You and Alex. You’re so much alike - strong, so strong that I sometimes wonder what you see in me - the sappy idiot who believes in any sob story and who gets taken for so many rides it isn’t funny. The dork. I just wanted to be strong for once, show him that I wasn’t an emotional wreck, a preening queen in a fit of hysterics. And I hurt you, oh God, forgive me. I never meant to," Vic sobbed quietly.

"I... please forgive me, Mac, please?"

A harsh shudder ran through the length of Mac’s body, and he let his head fall forward to rest on Vic’s shoulder. The other man’s tears were hot against his cheek, and Mac swallowed hard, fighting the ones that wanted to well up in his eyes in sympathy.

"You’re crazy if you think I’m strong or that you’re a queen," he rasped, his arms moving to encircle Vic’s torso without conscious thought or design. "I just - all I ever wanted was to feel like an equal in this whole mess. I loved you from the start, and Alex made me feel the same about him, and - "

Mac drew in a shaky breath, his fingers tightening in the fabric of Victor’s shirt, pulling the fabric taut across the other man’s back. "I’m just so tired of walking on eggshells, worrying that I won’t say or do the right thing and that will be it. Li Ann keeps telling me I let the two of you walk all over me, but I don’t know what else to do!"

His breath was coming in harsh, rasping gulps now, and Mac fought not to lose it totally in front of his partner. "All I wanted for the longest time was you," he continued quietly, unaware that his tears were soaking the soft cotton of Vic’s shirt. "And then you were gone, and then Alex was here and I’d really lost you. Then I had you both, _then_ I found that I wanted you both - always. I just don’t know how to keep you."

"Li Anne doesn’t know _shit_!" Vic snarled viciously. He really _should_ have let Alex play with her dammit all. Where the hell did she get off interfering in _their_ relationship? And she sure as hell was no Dr. Ruth, hell she was probably just pissy because both he and Mac had moved on and were no longer playing jackass to her dangling carrot.

"And another thing," Vic snarled, jerking away from his lover and standing to pace as his frayed temper flared. "You are an equal, goddammit. Jesus Christ, Mac, how can you say you’re not? That’s such bullshit. When are you gonna get it through your thick skull? Keeping us isn’t going to be a problem - getting rid of us might be. Christ," Vic ran his fingers through his short hair in frustration.

"Okay," Vic came to a sudden stop, then squatted down in front of his dumbfounded lover. "You _know_ me, Mac. Mr. Sentimental, Mr. Commitment, the guy who believes in making love, not having sex. Come on, Mac. You used to drive me nuts teasing me about my wounded dove, heart on my sleeve, in for the long haul mentality.

"You also know that after the head games that have been played on me - by almost _all_ the women in my life, that I despise doing the same to someone else. I would _never_ do that to you, baby. I would never say I love you only to change my mind a week or a month from now. I love you for as long as you’ll have me, Mac, and probably even longer. No strings, no conditions, nothing. And believe me when I say Alex feels exactly the same way. Shit, he’s the poster child for obsessions are us, and I know I’m not much better.

"Okay, I admit that he and I can and do sometimes get into this mood where all we see and hear is each other. But we each get that way about you too. Hell, he’s probably forgotten I even exist right now because he’s completely focused on getting the piece of ass he’s been lusting after for seven years, and guess what... it doesn’t bother me. Because right now, right this minute there’s no one I want to be with more than you. If Alex were to call up right now, I’d tell him to play with the toy he has because I’m busy. With you. Get it yet? I’m committed. I love you and it’s forever!"

Mac sat wide-eyed, his gaze trained on Victor, his expression crumpling even as he curled in on himself. Could he have been so blind? So focused on what he thought he didn’t have that he missed the fact that he did have it? He didn’t know the answer to either of those questions right now, but he knew one thing: today he’d done the one thing he’d sworn he’d never do. He’d hurt Victor, hurt him badly.

"I’m sorry," Mac whispered, lowering his head to his knees, but reaching out blindly for Vic’s hand, needing that anchor amidst the chaos of his emotions. "I didn’t - I love you - always will. Didn’t mean..." Raising his head, his dark eyes made luminous by the tears in them, he stared at Victor, silently pleading for forgiveness and another chance.

"Awwh, sweetheart," Vic crooned, pulling Mac onto his lap and cradling the younger man tightly to him. "It’s okay. Hey, look at me," his fingers raised Mac’s head and gently wiped away the tears beginning to fall. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Mac. You were hurting, and I was too wrapped up in my own selfish problems to see it. Guess it just goes to prove we _are_ a real family, baby. Complete with kick ass arguments and all the other fun shit."

Picking Mac up in his arms, Vic carried the younger man into the bedroom and, laying him down on the bed, curled up next to him. "Been quite the night, hasn’t it? I love you, Mac," Vic murmured, kissing each eye closed, then gently devouring his lover’s succulent mouth.

Mac hugged Victor tightly to him, his fingers clenched on the other man’s shirt, trembling as he was kissed with exquisitely tender passion. "Think I can live without another night like this for a while," he murmured, rubbing his face blindly against Vic’s as he twined his long limbs around his lover’s body.

"Love you, don’t want to think about anything. Only that right now."

Vic smiled and used the pads of his fingers to gently map out the curves and contours of Mac’s face. "I think I can help with that," he husked, bending to nibble his way down the strong, elegant column of the younger man’s throat.

Letting his fingers drift down until the caught the hem of Mac’s sweatshirt, Vic pulled it up; reluctantly giving up the tender flesh he’d been feasting on long enough to pull the shirt off. Standing, Vic slowly removed the younger man’s track pants and briefs then stripped out of his own clothes.

Lying down next to Mac he began to chart his lover’s body inch by inch, first with fingers then with lips. Tonight he was going to love Mac within an inch of sanity. Tonight he was going to prove just how cherished Mac Ramsey was.

"Victor..." Mac gasped, his breath catching in his throat as he felt the older man work his way over his body, the slightly rough pads of his fingertips giving way to the smooth silk of his lips and the humid warmth of his breath.

"God, please..." He shivered when Vic’s explorations ghosted over his ribs and the ticklish spot beneath them, then moaned when Vic nuzzled through his chest hair, rooting out the small peaks of his nipples.

"Shhh," Vic whispered, a finger coming up to brush against Mac’s lips. He groaned slightly as he felt it sucked into the warm, moist cavern of Mac’s mouth. "Let me take care of you, baby, let me make you feel good," Vic continued as he nibbled his way from one nipple to the other than down the line of dark hair to Mac’s navel. There he spent considerable time licking and delving and tasting.

As Vic played Mac suckled on his finger harder and harder. His lover’s body grew tense with need and restless with desire. This was how Vic wanted Mac; on the edge, lost in a fugue of pleasure where all he could see, hear, smell, touch or taste was Vic. He wanted Mac to drown in him. Backing off slightly, Vic rubbed his cheek with its day old growth of stubble across the younger man’s taut stomach and grinned at the quiet moan of need that emerged deep from within Mac’s chest.

Unable to speak, Mac whimpered around Vic’s finger, sucking it harder and deeper, the salty flavor making him crave more. His body was on fire, lost in the maze of his lover’s making, and the only way out would be when Vic led him there.

He felt the rasp of Vic’s stubble against his stomach, and arched upward, his muscles quivering with tension. Hands scrabbled at Vic’s bare shoulders, then fell away, clenching in the sheets for want of an anchor. All Mac knew was that he didn’t think he’d ever been as turned on in his life, and Vic hadn’t even touched his cock yet. Every touch spoke of love and commitment and Mac longed to return the feelings, but he could only writhe on the bed, letting Vic take him where he needed to.

Nuzzling his way downwards once more, Vic nosed through the soft curls that framed Mac’s erection. Rubbing his bewhiskered cheek against Mac’s cock he delighted in the whimpers of need that emitted from the younger man’s mouth. There was no question of what Mac was thinking of - he wasn’t thinking at all, just feeling.

"Do you know how beautiful you are to me?" Vic rasped quietly, watching Mac with almost predatory eyes. "Lean and lithe, slim hipped and elegant. A Da Vinci model brought to life, a Greek statue - David maybe. I would watch you walk away from me and imagine being sheathed inside you and nearly cream. The Director used to quirk her eyebrow as if to say ‘I know what you want.’"

Pulling his fingers from Mac’s mouth, Vic slid to the foot of the bed and began to nibble on Mac’s toes, eliciting a giggle from the ex-thief. "Ticklish, are we?" he smirked as he licked his way across the sole of Mac’s foot. "Every part of you is beautiful to me, Mac. From the bottom of your feet to the tip of that snooty little nose of yours. I love you, Ramsey.

A needy whine rose from Mac’s throat, then fractured when Vic licked his foot and sent skitterings of impulses up his nerve endings. "You - beautiful," he rasped, raising his head off the bed and staring down at the older man, his dark eyes glassy and unfocused.

Giving another moan, Mac collapsed back onto the sheets, squirming, spreading his legs in both an invitation and a plea. He needed to feel Vic everywhere, to push the gnawing doubts from his mind and just luxuriate in what was happening now.

"Shhh, easy sweetheart, we have _all_ night to play," Vic chuckled quietly then began to work his way up the arch of Mac’s foot to his ankle. He slowly charted a path up one of Mac’s legs to the join of hip and groin then, despite the younger man’s urgent pleas, returned to the other foot to repeat the process. Vic was determined to cherish every part of Mac tonight and prove just how much he loved the younger man.

"Oh, sweetheart, the things I want to do to you," Vic sighed as he crawled up Mac to straddle his thighs. "I could get arrested for every sex crime imaginable. You make me wanna do crazy things." He let a finger trace its way around Mac’s collarbone then bent to rain tiny kisses on the bony protuberance. "Wicked things to every part of your body."

"Go - go right ahead," Mac gasped, closing his eyes, then popping them open again when the darkness made the room start to spin lazily around him. Reaching for an anchor, he slid his hands to Vic’s legs, kneading the muscular flesh of the older man’s thighs.

The butterfly soft feel of Vic’s lips brushing over his shoulders was as sharp as a brand, and Mac shuddered, only to be rewarded for it with a nip at the base of his throat. "Need - please, Victor, God!" The last was added in an anguished voice as he tried to pull the other man in for a kiss but missed.

"What do you need, Mac? Anything I have that’s in my power to give to you, I will. Just say the words, sweetheart," Vic murmured as he began to work his way down Mac’s chest, teasing his tongue through the whorls of dark hair. "You taste so good," Vic moaned quietly.

Bringing his hands into play, Vic began to trace strong muscles and lean planes, worshiping his lover. Dipping lower, he tasted the salt of Mac’s skin and then pierced the indentation of his navel, grinning as the younger man jumped.

"You." Mac moaned, and dragged his hands up to Vic’s hair, stroking the soft, dark strands, mesmerized by the silky feel. "Need to taste, feel - " He drew in a ragged breath as Vic continued to delve into his naval with his tongue. "Want you in me, Victor. Don’t want to feel..."

His voice died off, and his hands tightened in Vic’s hair, this time succeeding in pulling his partner up and in for a kiss.

Stroking every inch of velvet heat that made up Mac’s delicious mouth, Vic savored his lover for long moments. When at last oxygen became imperative, he broke off and stared down at Mac with eyes the color of green obsidian. "Mac, you have me. You’ll always have me. In you, over you, you in me, us both in Alex, whatever the combination, you’re always in here." Vic raised one of Mac’s hands to lick his palm before placing it over his heart. "You’ll always live in here, Ramsey. I promise."

Feeling the heavy beat of Vic’s heart beneath his palm, Mac felt something shatter within him, and he swallowed hard to keep what tiny bit of composure he still maintained. "Need you - both - always," he whispered, looking up at Victor, then raising his other hand to shakily trace the older man’s face.

"I’m sorry," he breathed, staring at his finger as he traced the smooth lines of Vic’s lips. "So stupid, couldn’t believe... " He shuddered again, emotional and physical turmoil leeching his strength away.

"Believe me, baby, I know the feeling well," Vic husked as he rolled off of Mac and pulled him into his arms, sex leaving his mind for a moment as the overwhelming need to comfort Mac took precedence.

"Never told you this ‘cause you were so upset at the time and the last thing I needed was for the Director to find out and send me away for psych evaluations, but," Vic swallowed hard at the memory he was about to talk about for the first time since it happened.

"When you and the Director and Lex’s ex-boss all found us things got a little... well, ugly. Alex said stuff; I said stuff; he walked away; I walked out and thought about swallowing a gun for all of two minutes. After the shit that Li Ann, Ivy, and Gloria pulled, I kinda didn’t think I was worth a lot in the romance department. It’s one of the main reasons I never dreamed you could want me too; I thought I was just unwantable, unlovable. I still have problems with it, but you and Alex, you show me each and every day that I must be because the two of you love me.

"So, make you a deal, you give up the smoking and the heavy drinking, and I give up the suicide pacts, and we both talk our troubles out?"

Mac lay still within the circle of Vic’s arms, his eyes closed again as he listened to what his partner had to say and the steady back-beat of his heart. "Okay," he said quietly, speaking the word into Vic’s shoulder. "Don’t really need to get chained to the wall again anyway."

"Oh, I don’t know, Macky," Vic grinned down at the younger man. "You looked kinda cute up there, all vulnerable and wide open and so easy to play with."

Pulling Mac in for a tender kiss, Vic wrapped the ex-thief’s legs around him and leaned back until Mac was once more prone on the bed. "I’ve been told I have very bad timing, that I should finish what I start. I believe you said something about me being in you?" he teased as he delicately traced the outline of Mac’s lips with his tongue. "The offer still stand?"

Mac opened his eyes just enough to peer up at his partner, but there was definitely something unfocused about his gaze. "Go for it, Vic-tor," he murmured, running a hand down Vic’s back. "But remember, if I conk out on you in the middle of things, it’s nothing personal. I’m still just a little wasted, and I haven’t slept a whole lot the past two nights."

"Baby, if you conk out on me, then I’m not doing it right," Vic chuckled quietly as he reached for the lube. Squirting some into his hand, he warmed it for long minutes then smeared it on two of his fingers.

"I love you, Mac," Vic smiled down at the younger man, somewhat sappily. That said, he began to apply the lubricant to the tight ring of his lover’s anus, circling it slowly, building anticipation and need.

Watching Mac’s face change, the emotions flit over its expressive surface had Vic grinning. This was how he wanted to see his lover, lost in the needs of his body. Finally giving in to what they both wanted, he let his fingers slide inside, working the slick liquid in a bit at a time.

Removing his fingers, he repeated the process, all the while raining kisses over his lover’s body. Taking a nipple in his mouth, Vic began to suckle even as his hand fondled and stroked the younger man’s cock and balls. "You taste so sweet. God, you’re addictive. Can’t get enough of you," Vic murmured, staring down hotly at the younger man.

"Please. Vic - need - please," Mac begged, his body twisting and writhing on the bed as his lover slowly drove him out of what was left of his mind. He was going to explode or float off into outer space, and he needed Vic’s heat and warmth to keep him in place, or he’d be lost forever.

His long fingers dug into Victor’s back, but his arms lacked the strength to pull the older man up to where Mac needed him, so he could only moan and beg and feel.

"Shh, easy, Mac. Never doubt that I won’t give you exactly what you need," the older man husked as he slicked up his own cock and withdrew his fingers. Mac’s moan of loss made him smile even as he positioned the head of his arousal against the younger man’s pucker and slowly guided himself inside the waiting heat.

"God," Vic moaned quietly, needfully, as he sank all the way into Mac’s body. "You feel so good, Mac. Love feeling you around me. Love being in you as much as having you in me. You complete us," the older man admitted quietly, eyes staring hotly at the younger man, trying to convince with their power alone.

Vic could stand it no longer and finally began to move his hips, slowly, stroking every inch of his lover’s anus both inwards and outwards. His hands drifted, one wrapping around Mac’s cock and the other delivering light brush strokes to Mac’s perineum and back farther to feel himself gliding in and out of his lover.

Mac was floating, his thoughts centered only on the overwhelming sensation of being filled and the compelling green eyes gazing down at him. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through him, demanding nothing less than complete and total surrender to his lover, and Mac gave it, gladly.

With a sobbing moan, he came, the perfection of the moment too much to bear any longer. His muscles caressed Vic’s erection as his semen flooded the space between them, but Mac’s hold on Vic didn’t loosen, even when he felt his muscles begin to shake.

A few more strokes, the clenching of inner muscles and outer, arms holding him tight and Vic was filling Mac with his seed, a harsh exhalation and the soft murmuring of Mac’s name the only sounds he made. Sinking so that he was pillowed between the taller man’s legs, lying on top of his lover, Vic continued to stare into Mac’s eyes until he at last noticed the tremors.

Rolling them over until they were side by side, Vic soothed and gentled the younger man, his fingers tracing across Mac’s face and shoulders. "I love you; God, I love you, Mac. I need you as much as I do... I need you both equally. You’re loved, so very loved, you dork," the older man admitted, his breath catching sob-like in his throat.

"Please, _please_ never leave me, _us_ , your family again. Talk to us, yell at us, scream at us, beat the shit out of us if you need to, but don’t run away. Okay?" Vic pleaded quietly, raining kisses and caresses on Mac wherever he could, pulling Mac protectively into his arms and holding on for dear life.

"’Kay," Mac whispered, resting his head against Vic’s shoulder and closing his eyes. "I’m just so tired... So damned tired..." With a sigh, he relaxed more fully, letting sleep claim him though his arm and leg stayed twined around Vic’s body.

"Sleep, baby," Vic husked as he stroked Mac’s precious head. "I’ll guard your dreams for you." Bending, he kissed the younger man’s temple and settled back into the pillow, getting himself comfortable for a long night of protecting his younger lover’s sleep.

Glancing over at the phone, he knew he should call Alex, but then again he also knew what Alex was probably doing at this very moment. "Sorry ‘lex," he whispered regretfully, hoping their lover wouldn’t miss their presence all that much with his newest plaything in residence, "but tonight you’re on your own. We came too close to losing him today, and I’m not gonna let him down."

Gently chafing his hands up and down Mac’s sleeping back, Vic smiled at how young and innocent his thief looked at that moment. "We love you, Mac, and somehow, someway, we’ll convince you we mean it. I promise."

**~*~**

Shaking his head and telling himself that just because he’d walked out when Vic started screaming at Alex for falling asleep in the guest bedroom with the Feeb didn’t mean he was running away again, Mac headed to the gym they’d built in the back of the house, hoping to clear up his hangover by working out some. Maybe by the time he was feeling human again, things would have calmed down some.

Close to an hour later, Mac heard the gym door open. He dropped the weights he’d been working with back onto the rack, watching in the mirror as Alex walked across the mats toward him. The older man looked beat, that was for sure.

"Everyone still alive at the house?" Mac asked, picking up a towel and slinging it around his neck after drying his face. Considering the way the voices had been escalating when he’d left earlier in the day, it was a good possibility that someone - probably Mulder the Feeb - was lying dead on the floor right now.

Alex nodded, then rubbed at his temples, taking a deep breath as if getting ready to continue.

"Oh no," Mac butted in. "I don’t want to hear the gory details. This thing is between you, Vic and the Feeb. After all, considering the way I got dragged into this, I can’t say a word if you want to pull some guy who tried to kill you in as well."

"He didn’t try to kill me!" Alex started hotly, then sighed and slumped against the wall. "Sorry, Mac. The way Vic’s reacting to Mulder, that reaction’s becoming instinctive. But he really did _not_ try to kill me. And that’s despite what I did to him. Guess we both always knew there was something between us, whether we wanted to admit it or not." He shook his head. "But I don’t want to talk about Mulder. Or how Vic feels about Mulder. Or anything else for that matter. Fuck me, Macky? Remind me that I _do_ belong here? Please." He raised a ravaged face, looking pleadingly at his lover.

Mac frowned, concerned by the obvious affect this whole thing was having on Alex. He knew that Vic was having problems, but now he had to wonder if Victor was aware of how his attitude was hurting Alex.

Shaking his head and smiling slightly, the ex-thief moved closer to Alex, trapping the older man between his body and the wall. "You know I can’t say no to you when you look at me like that, my Thing," he murmured, sliding one hand behind Alex’s neck and the other around his waist and seducing his mouth with an open-mouthed, tongue-claiming kiss.

His hands tightened, then moved, and Mac began stripping Alex out of his leather jacket and gun holsters, letting the heavy harnesses fall where they may. "You realize we’re gonna give her a show in here, don’t you?" he asked, knowing the older man’s hatred of being on the Director’s video feed.

Alex hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "I honestly don’t care right now, Macky. I need you." He curled into Mac’s embrace trustingly, his face buried against the younger man’s chest. "Why did I ever think this was a good idea?" he half whimpered. "They’re gonna kill each other. I don’t wanna think about it any more."

"No, they won’t," Mac soothed, sliding his hand under Alex’s shirt and rubbing his back. "And don’t, it’ll work out, I know it." He worked Alex’s shirt over his arms and head, tossing it aside before pulling his own off as well. Catching the older man’s face between his palms, he backed Alex up against the wall again, taking his mouth as he rubbed their bodies together.

Arousal surged through Mac as his cock rubbed against the lengthening bulge in Alex’s jeans, and he pulled back enough to grin at his lover. "Brain stop working yet or do I need to take this up a notch?"

Alex moaned, his hands cupping Mac’s buttocks to hold him close, and dazed green eyes focused on the younger man. "Oh," he murmured, "feel free to take it up as many notches as you want." He wound his legs around Mac’s waist, making the other man support his weight and totally giving up control to him. "I want you," he rasped in Mac’s ear, his tongue lightly tracing the ridges.

One of Mac’s hands crept down the back of Alex’s jeans to tease the top of the valley between his cheeks, and he smirked as Alex’s moan reverberated in his ear. Spinning, he sent them both to the mat in a controlled fall, landing with his full weight on the older man. Nipping his way along the line of Alex’s jaw, Mac started working his way down the other man’s neck, trading bites and licks, taking his time, wanting to feel Alex squirming beneath him.

A fingertip flicked one of the rings in the ex-assassin’s nipples, taking care not to move the still-tender piercings too much, then Mac laved his tongue over the tender area, tickling the spots where the gold rings entered Alex’s flesh. "Few more weeks and we’ll really be able to play with these," he murmured, lifting his gaze to look up into Alex’s flushed face, watching his eyes dilate more when he closed his lips around one circle and tugged very lightly.

Alex groaned loudly, his back arching as he tried to press closer to Mac. He couldn’t believe how sensitive his nipples were now that they were pierced. He had a feeling that he could come just from nipple play once they were fully healed and Mac started in on him. His hands skimmed shakily over Mac’s back, needing to touch him. "So good. Fuck me, Mac, please. I need you right now, Macky." He squirmed restlessly beneath his lover.

Mac smiled around the small bit of metal before flicking his tongue over the tight bud again. He made quick work of getting rid of their pants, then leaned over to grab his gym bag, digging through it to find the lube he knew was in there while still managing to make Alex twist and squirm beneath him.

"Here you go, babe," he murmured, slicking up one finger and pressing it home between the older man’s outspread legs. "Just take care of this, and I’ll be in there." Unable to resist the luscious treat before him, Mac leaned in and licked at the clear beads of pre-come as he added a second finger.

Alex wailed as Mac continued to arouse him and screwed himself down onto the invading fingers. "Not enough," he moaned, his ass clenching around the digits, his hips thrashing as he searched for more. "Please, need you," he begged, his legs flung wide apart. He screamed while Mac licked at the head of his cock, his tongue delving into the slit in search of more fluid, and his fists clenched in Mac’s hair.

Mac popped the ruddy head of Alex’s cock into his mouth, sucking hard for a second before pulling back, loving the older man’s whine of need. "I’m here,’ he promised, reaching for the lube again and pulling his fingers out of Alex’s ass long enough to slick himself up.

Holding his erection steady with one hand, he urged Alex’s legs up to his shoulders and slowly pressed inward, giving the other man only enough time to get used to his girth before beginning to slam in and out of his lover. Alex wanted not to think, and that was where Mac was planning on taking him - both of them.

Alex wailed his pleasure as Mac took him out of himself, short circuiting his brain until he was nothing more than an animal intent on pleasure. He clung to the other man, writhing wildly beneath him, seeking his pleasure. His eyes fluttered open to fix on Mac’s, his arousal clear in his gaze.

His hands moved over Mac’s body, the tiny portion of his brain that was still functioning reminding him of his lover’s pleasure. His hips rose with every thrust, meeting Mac’s motion, and both men were panting, the sweat dripping off them.

"God, so beautiful," Mac gasped, transfixed by the vision of sheer lust and desire beneath him. Alex was wild, and it was all Mac could do to keep from coming at the feel of the older man gyrating beneath him. He worked a hand between them, closing his long fingers around Alex’s cock and stroking him firmly, the clenching of the fingers on his back telling him that Alex was getting close too.

"Do it, babe, let go," he rasped, closing his lips on the other man’s arched neck and sucking hard, raising a dark bruise and feeling his own climax surge when Alex began to convulse around him.

Alex howled Mac’s name, his glazed eyes fixed on his lover’s as he came apart, only the thick shaft still pummeling him grounding him. His body arched up into the pleasure, lifting both of them off the mat. For an instant, his shoulders were the only part of him still on the ground as he convulsed, and his fingers clenched on Mac’s ass so hard they would leave bruises.

As he slowly relaxed, he could feel Mac coming inside him, the hot spurts of his come bathing Alex’s insides, and he moaned his appreciation. Despite his languor, he continued to work his ass muscles, increasing the other man’s pleasure, and he watched Mac hungrily, enjoying his uninhibited climax.

"Thank you," he purred, finally lying limp and sated beneath the younger man, with no desire to move any time soon.

The ex-thief rested there for a moment, his head on Alex’s shoulder, before slowly pushing up on one elbow and grinning down at the other man. "No thanks necessary, and I’ll gladly do it again or have the tables turned any time you want."

He ran his other hand down the older man’s side, sighing happily as Alex shifted languorously beneath him before leaning in to tease his lover’s lips with his. "Feel like getting cleaned up and getting something to eat? I don’t know about you, but I need fortification if we plan on going at it like that again." He purposefully didn’t mention Vic, hoping to keep Alex’s mind of that subject a little longer but knowing the older man was, if anything, even more concerned about that whole mess than he was.

"We could shower here and go out for dinner," Alex suggested, betraying that he wasn’t ready to face Vic and Mulder yet. His fingers tightened on Mac’s back, the tension creeping back into his body. "I almost wish I’d never come back from Washington, just kept going somewhere far away," he admitted softly.

"Maybe I can talk you into real Hong Kong food," Mac chuckled, before hearing the rest of what Alex had to say and freezing, his expression becoming hard and remote.

"What did you say?" he asked, pushing up to a sitting position and glowering down at the older man. "Just what was that I heard you say?! You promised Vic you’d come back; you made me promise to take care of him, and you fucking told me you loved me too, and then you wouldn’t come back?" His voice had risen with each word until he yelled out the last. "Well, guess what, Mr. Krycek, WRONG!"

Alex cringed away from Mac’s anger, curling into a self-protective ball of misery. "See?" he whispered. "I only hurt people. You’d all be better off without me. You and Vic would have each other like you should, like you would if I’d never stumbled into your lives." He rolled away, unable to bear the angry, disgusted expression on the younger man’s face. "Vic shoulda let me pull the trigger," he murmured almost soundlessly.

" **WHAT**?!" Mac shouted, his eyes widening in shock and a bit of fear at Alex’s sudden emotional collapse. He’d heard a little about the other times this had happened from Victor, but to be a first-hand witness to it ... Mac felt chilled to the soles of his feet.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Mac crawled over to where Alex lay, curled in a shivering ball, and gently pulled the older man into his arms and lap. "You’re wrong, my Thing," he murmured, stroking Alec’s back while whispering the words into his ear. "So wrong. We need you here with us; hell, I need you, so you had better not go start thinking anything of that sort."

Alex was still shaking, and Mac sighed, kissing the assassin’s dark hair. "Listen, babe, I may not be Dr. Joyce Brothers, but I know one thing. I love you, and Victor loves you; you’re stuck with that. It’ll all work out, I swear." He kissed Alex again, then tilted his head, trying to look into the other man’s eyes as he grinned. "Now I thought we were going to go play in the shower then go do perverted things with some good food; you still up for that?"

Alex simply lay in Mac’s embrace at first, then his arms crept around the other man, and he slowly relaxed, a little embarrassed at his reaction. "Sorry," he mumbled, his head still tucked beneath Mac’s chin despite the younger man’s attempts to get him to look up. Finally he sighed and raised his head, knowing he couldn’t hide in Mac’s arms forever.

"Yeah, a shower and some food sounds good, maybe some authentic Chinese? I haven’t had any decent squid since I was in Hong Kong." He smiled a little shakily, but it was a real smile.

Mac rubbed his thumb over Alex’s cheek, then kissed him tenderly. "Not sure if I helped any, but I’ll keep trying to distract you." His arms tightened around the older man again and returned the smile.

"You ever know me to turn down authentic Chinese? And you were in - when were you in Hong Kong? Wait, wait, don’t tell me; I’m sure it’s one of those things I can’t know."

"You help a lot, Macky," Alex said quietly, his smile steadying and widening a bit. "I really do love you, you know." He laid his head against Mac’s shoulder for a moment. "Don’t know how you put up with all the emotional storms, but I’m awfully glad you do." He chuckled faintly. "And to think that the dragonlady thinks you’re the immature one of the group. Someday you’ll have to tell me why you put on the act."

He glanced up, sitting up straight again, the usual facade back in place. "As for Hong Kong... I was there for about a year a while back, working with a gunrunner while I tried to recover some ground. The people I worked for and I had had... a parting of the ways." He laughed harshly. "They tried to blow me up, so I decided it was time to move on. Anyhow, as usual, Mulder stumbled into the middle of things without having a clue what was going on, and I ended up back in the States after having an alien parasite take over my body." He was tired of lying to Mac and everyone else and vowed that he would give an honest answer to any of his lovers if they asked him something, no matter how painful it was to him. Or how unlikely, he added, seeing the skeptical expression in Mac’s eyes.

"Hey, you asked. I’m not going to lie to you, Macky, but my life has been less than ordinary." He shrugged, standing up gracefully. "Now, about that shower and dinner?" He offered the still sitting man a hand.

"Yeah, sure." Mac’s expression had changed from almost bashfully pleased at the complement to totally incredulous when Alex talked about Hong Kong. _Aliens? Was he serious?_ Apparently so, from what he said next, but Mac still wasn’t quite sure what to think of the whole thing.

What he did know, however, was that apparently Alex thought he was telling the truth, and, well, that was good enough for Mac. He also wanted to get going on their other plans, so he grasped the older man’s hand and stood, not letting go of Alex until the shorter man kissed him.

"Shower, take out food, and then how ‘bout we go make a spectacle of ourselves on Church Street?" he asked, stopping only to grab their clothes before herding his lover into the shower. "Besides, if you don’t mind, I’m interested in hearing how your night with the Fe - with Mulder went. You saw Vic and me; I think it’s only fair, right?"

Alex chuckled, then groaned happily when the hot jets of water beat down on his body, melting the tension out of him. There was _nothing_ that couldn’t be improved by a hot shower.

"Take out and a spectacle sounds good to me. I haven’t been down to Church Street for a while," He leaned back against Mac as the other man ran soapy hands over his chest.

"As for Mulder, well, if Vic leaves anything of him and he doesn’t head for the hills, you’ll be able to see for yourself. I’m not giving you two up to have him. But if you want details, I suppose this once I could kiss and tell." He grinned, turning around to start washing Mac, and stole a quick kiss.

"Anyone ever tell you that you’re a greedy son of a bitch, Alex?" Mac laughed, sliding his lather-filled hands over the shorter man’s chest and shoulders. His eyes went half-lidded as he enjoyed the glide of the other man’s palms over him, then a mischievous twinkle entered Mac’s eyes.

"And yes, I want details, especially considering the fact that I see marks on you that I know I didn’t put there, and I don’t think Vic did either." Winking, Mac stepped back a little and studied the purplish bite mark at the hollow of Alex’s hip.

"So tell all, babe, and don’t mind me if I play some while you’re doing it." Kissing Alex, Mac then dropped to his knees before the older man, nuzzling his flat stomach and flicking his tongue out to tickle his navel while he worked at washing Alex’s legs.

Alex moaned softly. "God, that mouth should be illegal," he gasped, tilting his head back under the water for a moment. "Couldn’t we have this discussion _after_ I get some food? I’m starving, Macky." He saw the suspicious glance and bent over to kiss the other man quickly. "I promise I’ll tell all, but I really am hungry. And frankly, I’d like to get out of here before Vic or Mulder appears. I’m not ready to deal with them just yet."

He turned a pleading look on the other man.

"Sure, Alex." Mac offered the older man a carefree grin and climbed back up to his feet, kissing Alex and making sure that all his expression showed was what he wanted it to. Pulling the older man out of the shower, Mac leisurely dried them both off, then gave Alex a small push toward the other room.

"Get those clothes on, then, and we’re outta here. Anything else can wait until we’re all ready for it." He waited until Alex vanished, then grabbed his clean clothes from the hanger, dressing quickly and trying hard not to think too much about the whole situation.

Alex dressed rapidly, barely glancing at the garments he pulled on once he’d made sure they didn’t clash. He returned to the other room in time to see the expression of unease on Mac’s face.

"I do love you, you know, Macky," he said quietly, smiling faintly at the startled expression on the other man’s face. "That’s why this is all so hard. I’ve fallen in love with _three_ men, three very different men." He sighed, shaking his head. "I think you’re the only sane one of the lot of us sometimes."

He moved closer, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist. "I know it’s not fair to expect you to keep the rest of us on an even keel all the time, but right now, I really need you, babe. I’m so tired." He laid his head on Mac’s shoulder for a minute, just enjoying a moment of peace.

"But right now, I’m _hungry_ ," he announced. "Let’s go eat." He smiled the familiar wicked smile.

Mac hugged Alex tightly, a denial on the tip of his tongue. Biting it back, he simply shrugged and let the older man go so that he could grab his coat. "Better get you fed then. I’ll get yelled at if I don’t take good care of you, right?"

"I’ll drive," he continued, nudging Alex out the door and toward his car. "I know exactly the place to get the chow. Lemme call ahead, and we won’t even have to wait for it." Pulling out his cell, Mac hit a preprogrammed number, then, after the other party answered, slid into fluid Cantonese, ordering enough of a variety of food to satisfy the hungriest of appetites.

Terminating the call, he slid the phone back in his pocket, then climbed into the black sports car, waiting until Alex was buckled in to start the engine and pull out of the drive.

**~*~**

"Okay, you want the run down on what’s what?" Mac chuckled, pulling cartons from the bags and setting them on the table in front of Alex. "Or you want to take your chances?"

They’d appropriated the picnic table in the small park-like area just off of Church Street, and the bustle of the evening traffic, pedestrian and vehicular, provided a backdrop. Settling onto the bench across from Alex, Mac twirled one of his chopsticks around his fingers, then plunged them into one of the containers, scooping out a chunk of squid and holding it out to the older man. "C’mon, babe, eat up."

Alex opened his mouth, letting Mac feed him. After he’d swallowed, he smiled at his lover. "You’re assuming I don’t know what everything is... and that I didn’t understand every word you said when you placed the order. I told you I lived in Hong Kong for a while." He shrugged, accepting another bite of squid.

"Mmmm, that’s good. Best I’ve had since I was there in fact." They ate a large portion of the food, then slowed down as their appetites were satisfied.

Alex shifted so that he was reclining on the bench, his head on Mac’s thigh, and stared up at his lover.

"It’s the closest I’ve found here to the real thing," Mac answered, running a hand through Alex’s hair when he changed positions. Mac’s smile died away, however, at Alex's next question.

"Now, Macky, tell me why you refuse to believe that I love you."

Mac shook his head as he set the chopsticks in one of the now empty cartons and regarded the older man. When was he ever going to stop underestimating Alex? Every time he thought he had him pegged, the other man showed another side of himself that had been kept hidden. Scrambling for a way to deflect the conversation, he grabbed onto an earlier comment, hanging on for dear life.

"Thought I was supposed to be hearing the torrid story of your night with the Feeb," he reminded Alex, grinning as he slid a hand along the exposed part of the older man’s chest. "You promised, after all."

Alex frowned. "And I’ll keep that promise. But the story isn’t going anywhere, and it’s beginning to seem like you might be if we don’t get this straightened out. I love you too much to let that happen." He sighed faintly. "Leave it to me to fall in love with men as emotionally insecure as I am."

"Is it Mulder? Did I push too much to get him? Or is it something about me that you can’t believe I can really love someone? Please, Macky, don’t shut me out. You made me love you, annoying brat that you are; don’t pull away from me now." One of Alex’s hands clenched on Mac’s thigh. He was desperately afraid of losing Mac, having allowed his emotional stability to become dependent upon his two lovers. He couldn’t lose either of them.

"Fuck, what is with these two?" Mac muttered to himself, lifting his gaze to stare out over the street, watching the passers-by as they strolled along. First Victor, now Alex; God, what did they want, for him to dissect his emotions right in front of them?

"It’s not Mulder. How could it be about him; I haven’t even met the guy yet. If you want him and he wants you now, good for the two of you." He picked up one of the white cartons again, playing with the remaining food for something to do. "And I certainly don’t believe you can’t love people. Anyone who’s ever seen you looking at Vic knows that’s bullshit."

He sighed, and set the food back down again, forcing himself to look at Alex. "I heard some things I took the wrong way, but Vic straightened me out. I’m dealing with it; don’t worry. I’ll still be here to keep you two from going off the deep end."

Alex sat up and turned to face Mac, kneeling on the bench between his lover’s legs, leaning in close. "Macky, I don’t need you to keep me from going off the deep end; I need you because I love you. You. Not just Vic. I don’t know what’s going on in that gorgeous head, but get this straight: I. Love. You."

He gripped Mac’s shoulders and shook him in frustration. "Why won’t you believe me?" he growled, seeing the insincere smile and disbelief in the brown eyes. "If you can see the love when I look at Vic, why can’t you see it when I look at you? I love you both. Not one better than the other, just differently because you’re different people."

He stood up, practically vibrating with tension. "Fuck! Do I have to stand here and yell my love at the top of my lungs before you’ll believe me?" He was so focused on Mac and so frustrated that he hadn’t even noticed the crowd of interested spectators they’d gathered.

Mac slammed his fist down on the table and shot to his feet, glaring at the older man. "Maybe you do! Maybe I want to see one of you crazy because of me and not just coming to me to put the pieces back together after you’ve had a melt-down. Maybe I want a chance to let go once in a while!"

He spun around, nearly slamming face first into a tree behind them, then froze as he heard a snicker from the direction of the street. Turning slowly, Mac studied what was now a small crowd, spotting the joker, who was now tittering out giggles into her - his - its neatly manicured fingers.

"Honey, if you don’t want him, send him my way. I promise to take _real_ good care of him," the transvestite purred, cocking out one leather and fishnet clad hip and blowing a kiss at Alex.

Flabbergasted and hearing a sick gurgle of shock from Alex, Mac simply stared at the man’s elaborate makeup and flaming red hair, then he started to laugh. "No way, sister," he said weakly, backing up to stand in front of Alex and wrapping his arms backwards around the shorter man. "He’s half mine, and what isn’t belongs to someone even nuttier than I am when it comes to him. You’re out of luck."

Alex gawked at the shemale and pressed a little closer to Mac for protection. No way did he want anything to do with that... man? woman?... whatever it was!

"Sorry," he offered weakly. "We come as a set, and our other third’s waiting for us at home." He eyed the crowd nervously, not accustomed to public displays. Usually people who intruded on him ended up dead.

"Let’s get the hell out of here and back home," he hissed in Mac’s ear, desperate to get away. "And don’t think this conversation is over, you raving lunatic. We _are_ going to straighten this out, and you _will_ believe that I love you. And so does Vic."

The transvestite pouted out a magenta lower lip at that. "Well, if y’all ever decide to break up the set, let me know." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, then sashayed off through the dispersing gawkers.

"Maybe I want to stay," Mac shot back. "After all, you’re the one that she’s all hot and bothered for." He settled back down on the bench, stretching his legs out in front of him, resting his elbows on the tabletop behind him.

"Besides, thought you didn’t want to go home yet - or do you think Vic and the Feeb are done with round two yet?"

Alex sighed. "They’re probably done yelling and on to the fucking by now. Both are pretty irresistible, and though they try not to admit it, they like each other. You should see ‘em, Macky. They’re fucking gorgeous together, and Mulder’s turning out to be the biggest slut I’ve ever met. He’s _always_ ready to get fucked." He shook his head wonderingly.

"You’re not going to believe it the first time you see them. But no, I’m not in any rush to go home right now. I like spending time just the two of us. Just... fend off the locals for me, ‘kay? I’d hate to have to shoot one of them." He straddled Mac’s body, then settled onto his lap, a little twitchy at having his back to the street and the people but trusting Mac to warn him of any danger.

He rested his hands on Mac’s shoulders. "Now then, Macky. I believe I was telling you that I love you, and you were refusing to believe me." He smiled crookedly.

"No," the younger man corrected wryly, "I believe I was having a tantrum, and you were hiding from your admirer." He felt Alex tense on his lap and shook his head as he brought one hand up to stroke the other man’s back. "Relax, my Thing; I promise I won’t let anyone touch you."

He paused at that, then snorted out a laugh. "God, I sound like you talking to Vic. This is getting too weird even for me. I thought it had hit the roof when the Feeb showed up and Vic let you go with him."

Alex frowned. "You honestly thought I would leave you, you and Vic, for Mulder? Damnit, Mac, what do I have to do to convince you? You two are my home. The first home I’ve ever had since I was a kid and my mother died. How could you believe I’d ever give that up, give you up?" He slumped forward, his head leaning on Mac’s shoulder. "I don’t know how to convince you," he whispered in a small voice. "I’m afraid of losing you, Macky. Tell me how to make you believe me."

Mac sighed and ran his hand up Alex’s back to gently stroke his dark hair. "I do believe you, most of the time. It’s just - " He shifted on the bench and looked around, noting that they weren’t garnering any more attention than any other couple on the street at this point.

"You aren’t the only one who never had a home - not one without contingencies anyway." He shook his head when Alex started to object, then continued. "I know you and Vic don’t have any either - here." He pointed to his head. "But it takes a little longer to seep down lower. I guess - I guess it’s just coming in in the middle of things or something. I guess I still haven’t figured out where I fit in."

"Stupid, I know, but I guess we all have our problems. Tell me, is the Feeb as fucked up as the three of us are?"

Alex burst into laughter. When he could speak again, he raised his head, wiping away tears of laughter. "Oh, I needed that. And yeah, Mulder’s about as fucked up as a human being can get. Of course, there is some evidence to the effect that he may not be entirely human, but that’s nothing to do with us. Mulder’s probably had a shittier life in some ways than any of us. He just had more money to fall back on.

"Hell, he thinks he’s in love with the man who killed his father." Seeing the question in Mac’s eyes, Alex added, "I _did_ kill Bill Mulder, but the jury’s still out on whether he was Fox’s father."

He stared with every evidence of fascination at Mac’s chin. "There’s still a lot you don’t know about my past, some stuff Vic doesn’t know either. I’ve been afraid to tell you, afraid you couldn’t accept what I’ve been and done." His fingers tightened on Mac’s shoulders.

Relieved that, once more, the conversation had changed directions, Mac cupped Alex’s chin, tilting the older man’s head until he was looking into a pair of wary green eyes. "Alex, you’re sleeping with a guy who looks like your twin. Hell, the rest of the world probably thinks you are twins or something. If I can deal with that, I can handle anything. That Vic can goes without saying. You’ll tell us what you need to when the time is right, and we’ll still be there when it’s over."

"Of course," he continued, a half-smile tugging at his lips, "my version might take a bit longer than Vic’s." He rubbed Alex’s back again, then slid his hand up to the older man’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "As for Mulder, sounds like he’s fitting in just fine in the asylum already. Wonder if we went to the reservoir, if we could snoop around and see if the Director has any video feed of what’s going down there right now? Might be entertaining. You say the Feeb is a bigger slut than Vic? I can’t believe it."

Alex smiled slowly, finally starting to believe that Mac wasn’t going to leave him. He leaned in closer for another kiss, more intense than the last as his usual forceful personality returned.

"You almost make me wish she _did_ have lines into our house, just this once. You wouldn’t believe those two together. When I walked in yesterday afternoon and saw them..." He shivered ecstatically at the memory.

"Fox begs really prettily, and Vic plays him well." He grinned, rubbing against Mac’s growing erection. "Like that, huh? So, shall we go home and see what they’re up to or find a good spot to take the edge off?"

"Guess they’ll have to give us a repeat show so that I can see," Mac chuckled, his eyes going dark and slumberous as Alex arched harder against his body. "And you still have to tell me about what happened last night. Might make a good story to hear in the car."

He threaded both hands through the older man’s soft, dark hair, tilting his head back so that he could nibbled at the long lines of his throat. "And if you tell it good enough, I promise to find us somewhere out of the way to stop so that I can give you a story to tell him when we get back home."

Alex moaned, startling himself with the hungry sound. "Damnit, Mac, I want you," he groaned, knowing he wasn’t going to get anything till Mac was ready to give it. He rubbed harder against Mac’s erection, nearly whimpering when the younger man held him still and just _looked_ at him.

"Okay, okay," he grumbled, standing up to head back to the car. "Last night... Well, after Vic disappeared to go find you, Mulder and I ended up in the guest room. I’d wanted him for years, and I almost couldn’t believe it was real." He grinned suddenly. "Vic’s come dripping out of his ass convinced me it was.

"Anyway, Foxy surprised me by wanting to top, the remnants of his old aggressive tendencies, I guess, and I had no problem with that. The man is _endowed_!" He grinned at Mac again and kissed him quickly. "I pick good lovers.

"So he took me, then I found out what a slut he really is ‘cause he came again when I took him. I didn’t even need lube, Mac. He’d never cleaned up after Vic fucked him, so Vic’s come had him nice and slick for me. After that we moved to the shower where he sucked me off... he’s got a talented mouth too. I’m looking forward to seeing you and him together, babe. Those lips..." Alex tugged teasingly at Mac’s lower lip.

"That’s about it, Macky. We crawled back into bed and didn’t wake up till you and Vic got home. And then Vic and Fox got into it again. Guess I shoulda moved back to our bed to sleep, huh?" He sighed, shoulders slumping a bit.

Mac wrapped an arm around Alex’s waist as they walked toward the parking lot, his hand resting low on the shorter man’s hip. He’d been more concerned about his two lovers than Mulder earlier this morning, so he really hadn’t gotten a good look at the older man. Alex’s tale, as well as the definite deepening of his voice when he told it, made Mac a little more interested in making the Feeb’s acquaintance.

"Hey," he growled, feeling Alex’s shoulders round as he started fretting again, "considering how long you say you’ve wanted this guy, I’m surprised you were even able to wake up this morning when we got home. They’ll work it out, and, as you said, Vic’s probably fucking Mulder through the wall as we speak."

Sensing that Alex was still brooding, Mac spun the other man around, pressing him against the window of one of the stores that lined the street. "Listen to me, Mr. Krycek. You keep telling me to believe you, so believe me when I tell you this will all be fine." He leaned in, devouring the other man’s mouth and grinding their bodies together until he was sure the only thing on Alex’s mind was his need to come.

"And if you bring it up again before we get home, I’m going to take a page from your book and paddle your ass - right out here in public if necessary!" Sliding a hand between them and squeezing the hot bulge of Alex’s cock, Mac then hefted the older man over his shoulder, carrying him toward the car and ignoring the laughs and stares of the others on the street.

"Mac!" Alex yelped, grabbing at his lover when he was tossed over his shoulder. "Put me down, you lunatic!" His command was less than stern, however, since he was laughing helplessly as he issued it.

The wolf whistles and appreciative comments from many of the people on the street had him wishing the earth would swallow him, and Mac’s hand on his ass made him want to just sprawl and get fucked. He groaned when he looked up and saw the transvestite was back again, leering at him.

"Macky, that... guy... is back. Get me the fuck out of here!" He squirmed a little, biting back a moan when that ground his erection into his lover’s shoulder.

"Awww, the big, bad assassin’s scared of a guy in drag?" Mac snickered, running his hand over Alex’s butt, dipping his fingers between the other man’s thighs to tease his balls, then wincing when Alex’s jump at that almost sent them both to the ground.

He got them back to the car, ignoring the folks trailing along behind after the redhead, who kept calling out advice to them. Setting Alex back on the ground, Mac immediately pushed the shorter man back on the hood, then crawled up over him, straddling his hips as he licked and nipped at Alex’s mouth and throat.

Sliding backwards until his feet hit the ground again, Mac grinned at the other man, who was lying there on the car, looking thoroughly debauched and as if he didn’t care if he never moved again as long as he was fucked right there and then. "Come on, my Thing," the younger man purred, running his hands up Alex’s thighs, then grasping his hands, tugging him off the car to lean against his side.

Blowing a kiss at the shemale who was applauding, Mac bundled Alex into the car, letting his hands roam as he did so, grinning at the older man’s groans of need. "And you say Mulder and Vic are sluts. Let’s get out of here. The minute we get somewhere private, I want you back up on that hood, then you can have what you want." He downshifted as they roared out of the parking lot, sliding his hand over to Alex’s crotch and kneading the taut denim as he drove.

Alex just blinked at him, his brain switched off by the overpowering lust he felt at that moment. After a moment, he blinked, sense returning to the glazed green gaze, and his legs spread wider to give Mac better access to the bulge straining the crotch of his faded jeans.

"Hurry up, Macky," he urged huskily. "I’m gonna hold you to that. I want you so deep inside me that I feel you touching my tonsils." He covered the exploring hand with his own, pressing it tightly against himself, then grinned wickedly.

"And in the meantime..."

He twisted sideways in the seat, then slid down to kneel on the floor and leaned over to place his head in Mac’s lap. With his teeth, he slowly unfastened his lover’s pants, then lapped at the rigid cock like a kitten with a saucer of cream.

A soft groan echoed through the interior of the small car, and Mac let his head thump back against the neck-rest. He fought the desire to close his eyes and just enjoy the velvety feel of Alex’s tongue sliding over his cock, knowing that having an accident right now would do neither of them any good.

"You make me come now and you’re gonna have to work to get me hard again so that I can fuck you," he rasped, threading his fingers through Alex’s hair, stroking his head in time with the burning licks on his cock.

Once they were off the surface roads, Mac floored it, testing his control and his concentration as Alex continued to tease him, keeping him hard and aching, but not quite giving him enough to come.

"You are so in for it now, my Thing," Mac growled, bringing the car to a squealing halt at a scenic overview on a side road. "You know where I want you, now get up there." Fighting a chuckle at Alex’s mad scramble for the door, Mac took a deep breath to center himself, then flipped open the glovebox and grabbed the container of lube that was in there.

"Don’t leave home without it," he grinned, easing out of the car after checking that the brake was set, then ambling around to the front, stroking himself through the open fly of his pants.

Alex nearly tore the handle off the door in his haste to get out of the car, and he was tugging at his pants before his second foot hit the ground. By the time he draped himself over the hood, his pants were around his knees. He kicked off his shoes and the jeans, leaving himself naked from the waist down as he lay on the warm metal.

He watched Mac approach him, his lips parting hungrily at the sight of Mac’s erection framed by his open pants. "God, Macky," he groaned, "I want you so much it hurts."

Mac’s brows drew together in a frown, and he leaned in, bracketing Alex’s body with his arms, just letting his body brush against the older man’s as he nibbled on his ear. "Can’t have that. I don’t want to see one of my Things in pain; it makes me hurt."

Teasingly, he brushed his cock against Alex’s ass, smirking when the other man bucked violently, cursing and demanding to be fucked right now. "God, I love you like this, ‘Lex," he chuckled, squeezing some of the lube out onto his fingers and making fast work of stretching the other man.

When all Alex could do was moan and hump back and forth between Mac’s fingers and the car’s hood, the younger man took pity on his lover and himself. Slicking up his cock, he pressed the head against Alex’s anus, then paused. "So you really love me?" he asked, his tone of voice betraying his grin.

"Sadistic bastard!" Alex wailed. "I love you when you’re not trying to kill me!" He squirmed wildly, trying frantically to lunge back and take Mac inside him. "Fuck me, damn you!"

He clawed at the unyielding metal of the car, his ass pressed against its rapidly cooling surface, and he wailed desperately. " _Please_ , Macky! Need you!"

If he could have, Mac would have laughed, but instead, he lunged forward, sheathing himself in Alex’s body and pinning the older man against the car. "Not quite wine and roses, but I’ll take it," he breathed before closing his teeth on the side of Alex’s neck, pistoning in and out of his body, adoring the tight heat sucking at his cock.

One hand crept across Alex’s chest to tickle the rings handing from his nipples, and the other worked lower, finding and stroking his cock in time with Mac’s thrusts. "I’m fucking you, babe. Now I want you to do something for me. Hold off. Don’t come until I say so."

"Whaaaat?" Alex wailed again, dismayed at what Mac was asking of him. "Noooo! Please, Mac, I can’t." He bit down hard on the soft flesh inside his cheek, trying to distract himself from the exquisite sensations racing through his body.

"Come on, Macky, let me come. Too much, too good." He writhed like a pinned butterfly, his back arching deeply as he tried to take Mac deeper. "God, so fucking good! More, please, harder," he whined.

"After coming as much as you have the past two days?" Mac asked incredulously, freezing when he felt Alex’s frantic bucking underneath him, his grip on the other man’s cock loosening until it was almost nonexistent. Much more of this and _he_ was going to come, and Mac had no intention of doing that until he’d given Alex what he was begging for.

"Just a little longer," he crooned, continuing to stroke into his lover, this time angling his thrusts away from the older man’s prostate. No way Alex could come now, not without any kind of direct stimulation.

"Now!" Alex whined, frantic as Mac continued to tease him. "God, please let me come. I’ll do anything you want, please, Macky, love you, want you..." He whimpered and squirmed, hands scrabbling uselessly at the body-warm metal.

His legs rose to twine around Mac’s, attempting to pull him closer, his weight now balanced only by his hands on the hood. "God, please, Macky, so good..." He was so fucking close, all it would take was a single touch on his cock or against his prostate.

As much as he wanted to tease Alex a little more, the desperate need in the other man’s voice won out. Leaning in close to Alex’s ear, Mac closed his hand around the older man’s erection, pumping it hard as he drove into Alex, the blunt head of his penis rubbing against the bump inside his body.

"Come for me, my Thing," Mac purred, feeling Alex twitch and stiffen beneath him, and his own orgasm boil in his veins in reaction to the spastic clenching of his lover’s muscles around him.

Alex arched so hard it seemed his spine must snap, his ass pressing against Mac so close that not even a breath of air could pass between them. "Oh god, yes, like that, fuck, Maaaac!"

He shuddered, lying limp against the car, and he wasn’t sure that he’d ever move again. Mac had nearly driven him out of his mind, and he’d loved giving up control to his lover. He flexed his ass slightly, purring at the sensation of being filled, wishing they could stay like this forever. Well, with the addition of Vic. And Mulder.

"Mmmm, thank you," he murmured, raising his head slightly to kiss Mac.

The younger man licked at Alex’s lips once the kiss broke. Resting his forearms on the car alongside his lover’s shoulders, Mac relaxed, sandwiching Alex between his body and the car’s hood.

Kissing his way along the other man’s tanned shoulder to his throat, Mac bit down on the tender skin lightly, then chuckled. "For being a sadistic bastard?"

"That too." He arched slightly as Mac bit him, enjoying the faint sting. "Love it when you get all controlling and make me crazy. How’d I get so lucky? You _and_ Vic, and I even straightened things out with Fox so he’ll visit." He shivered happily. "Never thought I’d have a life like this. Not bad for an ex-assassin, triple agent, huh?" He smiled over his shoulder at Mac.

"So, shall we go home and see whether they’ve fucked themselves into total exhaustion?"

"Maybe you should buy some lottery tickets tonight," Mac laughed, kissing Alex before slowly pushing off the older man and straightening up, supporting Alex as he followed, until he could get the feeling back in his legs.

"And home works for me." He grinned as he bent to grab Alex’s discarded clothing, a devilish glint in his dark eyes. "If they have fucked each other immobile, I get first shot at the Feeb. Figure he can’t shoot me if he’s out of it."

"What do I need lottery tickets for? I already have everything I could ever want." He grinned at Mac as he reclaimed his clothes and righted himself. "As for getting home, I’ve already said I want to see you and Mulder together. You’ll be gorgeous. Two long, lean guys." He licked his lips. "Wonder if we can film it." He grinned at the other man as he climbed back inside the vehicle.

"Well, whatcha waitin’ for?" he asked with a laugh. "Two eager sluts await us."

Mac swiped at the creamy streaks on his hood, then gave it up for a lost cause. "You owe me a car wash!" he yelled, zipping up his pants and setting his clothing to rights.

Climbing in on the driver’s side, he eyed Alex, then ruffled his heir. "Don’t ya mean three sluts?"

Alex smirked. "Naaawww. You’re pretty, but you’re not a slut." He ducked the half-hearted punch Mac threw at him, laughing.

"As for the car, tell ya what. I’ll help you wash it tomorrow." Seeing that Mac looked less than impressed by his offer, he added, "You don’t want to go out in the sun with me, in cutoffs, with buckets of water and hoses? Macky, Macky, Macky. I thought you had more imagination." He chuckled. "We should get Vic and Mulder to help too."

He leaned his head on Mac’s shoulder and unfastened the younger man’s shirt so he could toy with the soft hair on his chest. He seemed perfectly content to rest there, petting Mac, all the way home.

**~*~**

"Hey, sleepy-head, wake up." Mac shut off the engine, then gently shook Alex’s shoulder, waking him from his light doze. "We’re home, and the house is still standing; that’s a good sign."

He stretched, then grinned at the older man. Alex still had that half-asleep look to his expression and, for a second, Mac caught a glimpse of what both he and Vic must have looked like as boys.

"Think we’d better go see if the interior survived? After all, there are two beautiful, slutty men in there just waiting for us." He waggled his eyebrows, then glanced down at Alex’s crotch. "If you’re up to it, that is."

As Alex thought about who was waiting for them inside the house, it soon became very clear that he was more than up for it. He sat up a little, turning enough to kiss Mac easily while one hand came to rest in the younger man’s lap.

When their lips finally parted, he grinned at his lover. "Looks like we’re both up for it, Macky. Or is that a gun in your pants?"

He straightened away, opening the door and getting out before Mac could reply, his giggles floating back inside through the open door.

"Come on, Macky, we can’t lose. Either we see them fucking, which is a thing of beauty," he added reminiscently, "or we find them between rounds and can have them."

"And he says _I’m_ a lunatic," Mac snickered, easing out of the car, then swaggering along behind Alex, lengthening his strides until he was right behind the older man.

"I’ve got my six-shooter right here, cocked and ready to fire," he drawled, dragging Alex back against his body, then letting him go to sprint around the ex-assassin, barreling through the front door and upstairs ahead of him.

Peering in through the partially open bedroom door, Mac waited until Alex caught up with him again, then looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Awww, aren’t they cute all curled up like that? Be even cuter awake though."

Meeting the older man’s sparkling green eyes for a second, Mac winked, then kicked off his shoes. Taking a running leap, he dove for the bed, wedging his lanky body between Vic and Mulder. "Hi, honey, I’m home," he crowed, taking in Vic’s sleepy grin and the Feeb’s look of incomprehension. "It’s my turn now, right? Alex promised!"

Alex leaned against the bedroom wall, laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up straight. When he finally caught his breath again, he introduced, "Mulder, meet Mac, the final member of our happy family. Mac, Mulder." He sauntered over to the bed, perching on the edge, and leaned over to kiss Vic. He loved him warm and drowsy like this.

"Well, Macky?" he said when he finally stopped kissing his double and was comfortably settled on the bed, back propped up by pillows. "It’s your show now."

"And it looks like I’m playing to a packed house," the ex-thief snickered, twisting his head over his shoulder to kiss Vic as well, then turning back to Mulder.

"Mmm, my Things were right; you are pretty," he murmured, brushing a thumb across the older man’s lower lip, then sliding his hand behind Mulder’s head and into his hair, pulling him in for a kiss.

Startled, Mulder remained unresponsive at first as this stranger kissed him thoroughly. That soon changed as he could taste Alex in the man’s - Mac’s? - mouth, and his skill drew Mulder’s full participation. He went from a limp and sated puddle of a man to whimpering softly as he squirmed against the man ravishing his mouth.

When Mac finally drew back, Mulder’s eyes fluttered open, and he turned a dazed expression on the men watching him. "Uh, hi," he offered, blushing slightly.

"Told ya," Alex chortled, petting Vic lightly.

Mulder’s eyes darted to him, and he flushed more deeply at the knowing expression in the green eyes. When he glanced at Vic and saw the same amusement, he turned scarlet. Despite his embarrassment, however, he seemed in no hurry to release his hold on Mac.

Vic grinned and snuggled into Alex, his eyes lazy with sated pleasure as he watched Mac discover the other man’s truly awe-inspiring need to slut around. "They’re kind of pretty together, aren’t they, ‘lex?" he murmured, watching the two men.

"They’re the same body type, long and lanky, brunette, with those gorgeous, fuckable lips. I think they’re going to be fun to watch, don’t you?" he sighed, nuzzling against Alex’s neck a moment even as his ass rubbed against his lover’s cock.

"Hi," Mac grinned, rolling Mulder to his back and straddling the older man on his hands and knees. Tilting his head, he glanced over at Vic and Alex, and winked at them. "Don’t worry, you won’t get bored watching, though I somehow doubt that’s all you’ll be doing."

Turning his attention back to Mulder, Mac nipped at his full lower lip, then back along to his ear. "Promise you won’t get bored either. I’ve heard a lot about you; can’t wait to see if it’s true."

Sitting up long enough to strip out of his shirt and undo the waistband on his pants, Mac then lowered himself back onto the FBI agent, who was squirming a bit by now. "So many choices," he murmured to himself, running a hand down Mulder’s side, "suck and fuck or sixty-nine or just get down and dirty."

He paused, head cocked to the side as he thought, then smirked. "I like the first idea." Without preamble, he scooted down the bed, nuzzling Mulder’s stomach, then swallowing his cock, sucking him to full erection in no time at all.

Mulder yowled, throwing his head back, as Mac’s mouth engulfed him. _What a way to meet your lovers’ lover_ , he thought; it was almost surreal this relationship that he’d been dragged - well, he’d _thrown_ himself into.

The man gorging himself on Fox’s cock reminded the FBI agent of a deranged sprite or sex starved worshipper of Bacchus from those old mythology texts he’d read. Mac Ramsey had dark curly hair, darker eyes and a body that was a work of art in its lean angles and long planes. And the man’s mouth - god, Ramsey could have made a fortune with it; he was better than anyone Fox had ever been with save for the other two in this bed! No wonder each man seemed so possessive of his mates, and how the hell did the three of them walk?

Turning his head to the side as he let sensation after sensation bombard him, as Mac fed on his cock and fondled his balls, Mulder came face to face with a truly breathtaking sight: Alex and Vic curled around each other so that you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began, just two incredibly like faces bearing similar smirks watching as Mac took him and drove him insane.

Vic reached out with one hand to tweak one of Mulder’s nipples while Alex did the same to Vic, and it was if a circuit had closed and the connection between all four men was complete with Mulder acting as the conduit of their lusts.

Wailing, Fox orgasmed long, thready streams of semen into Mac’s mouth, his hands wrapping themselves in the soft brown curls as his hips bucked helplessly. "Jesus, oh sweet," he panted and his long arms curled under Mac ‘s shoulders and he found the strength to haul his youngest tormentor up in order to ravish those beautiful, bee-stung lips. Tasting the warm remains of his come on Mac’s lips made him moan even more and spread his legs wider. "I believe you said something about fucking me next?" he husked, staring up into saturnine eyes full of mischief, mirth and lust.

Alex shuddered as he watched Fox’s extremity. God, the man was gorgeous when he came, and to see Mac’s mouth around his cock... He tilted Vic’s head up to ravish his mouth, his own cock twitching despite how thoroughly Mac had drained him only a short while before. When the need for oxygen forced their lips to part, he tucked Vic’s head back onto his shoulder, his hands running over his lover’s body while they watched the other two men.

Mulder lay, legs spread and a smug grin on his face, watching Mac with anticipation. He raised a knee, hips rising slightly for a moment, displaying himself. Despite having just come, he desperately wanted to be fucked, and not just by anyone, by this man, Mac, who’d been a stranger only a few minutes ago. Knowing that Vic and Alex were watching just turned him on more, and he whined quietly.

"Damn, you were right," Mac breathed, licking his lips, his gaze flicking from the arousing sight of the FBI agent squirming on the bed in front of him to the equally alluring view of Vic and Alex twined around each other. "He’s the biggest _jin yan_ I’ve ever seen - I think I like him."

Grinning as Alex whispered the translation of his Cantonese to Victor, causing both of the men to chuckle in agreement, Mac turned his attention to the newest member of their grouping. Leaning in, balancing his weight on his knees and one hand, he kissed the older man again, exploring each bit of his lips and the darkness behind them. Snagging the lube from the nightstand, Mac slicked up a finger, then eased it inside Mulder’s body, smirking when he found the other man already loose from his earlier round with Vic.

"Definitely a _jin yan_ ," he purred as Mulder’s hips arched and the older man tried to take more of Mac’s fingers into himself. "A very greedy one too." After slicking himself up, he pressed into the American’s body, taking up a strong, driving rhythm that was fueled by Mulder’s gasps and whines for more.

"Fuck, they’re pretty, aren’t they?" Vic husked as he rubbed his ass back and forth against Alex’s stirring cock. "Forgive me for being such an ass about this? You were right, just like you always are." Turning his head, Vic kissed his lover softly. "I love you, ‘lex," he whispered, eyes adoring the man who’d brought him so much pleasure in life. "Thank you for waking me up." Turning back to the gorgeous sight of Mac fucking Mulder, Vic purred like a well-stroked and contented cat, basking under Alex’s petting and growing hard at the two handsome men before him.

Mulder was mewling hungrily as Mac fucked him. The younger man felt fantastic inside him, was driving him insane, and Mulder felt himself stirring again. After months of celibacy, in one incredible day he’d been fucked by three gorgeous men, one of them Alex Krycek. Life didn’t get any better...

His thought were scattered by a direct hit on his prostate that made him scream and arch up under Mac, arms and legs wrapping tightly around him. "More!" he wailed, driven beyond all rational thought by the ecstasy coursing through his blood.

Alex watched eagerly, surprising himself by not being jealous of either Mac or Mulder as they pleasured each other. He loved them both and simply enjoyed the beautiful sight of the two men together. As he watched, he fitted himself to Vic and pushed inside him with a hoarse groan of pleasure. "Love you too, beautiful," he replied, holding Vic tightly. "Think you can hold on for a while? I want to watch them just like this, me inside you, getting harder and hotter, listening to them, and then take you after they come."

Vic whimpered low in his throat. Alex always found a way to drive him even crazier than the last time. "Christ, Alex, you’re gonna kill me one of these days," he moaned quietly. The feeling of the older man inside him, not moving, just being there, was impossible to resist.

He wanted to move. He wanted to rock back and forth, impaling himself on the cock in his ass. He wanted to clench his muscles tight and milk Alex for all he was worth as he watched Mac and Mulder fuck each other into oblivion. But instead he shivered and froze, staying perfectly still, his own cock weeping constantly as his eyes were glued to the erotic tableau before him.

Mac arched his back, thrusting deeper into Mulder’s body, watching through narrowed eyes as the older man writhed beneath him, every stroke seemingly driving him farther into the realm of sensuality. Looking down at the flushed skin and unfocused hazel eyes, Mac understood what Alex had meant when he said that Mulder wasn’t quite sane, but then, who of them was? Insanity just added a little more spice to their fucking.

Twisting his hips to hit Mulder’s prostate and shuddering at the tremor that went through the agent’s body, Mac left off kissing him for a moment to look over at Vic and Alex. "Mmm, I think we’re gonna get a show after," he murmured, leaning back in to lick at the curve of Mulder’s ear. "You’re in for a treat, Feeb. You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen Alex taking Vic."

Mulder stared up at the stranger fucking him, and the words gradually registered through the haze of pleasure. Slowly, he turned his head to the side, ever louder cries of pleasure erupting from him, and focused on the two identical men lying beside him, watching him get royally reamed. Dear God, the way they were lying, on their sides with one of Vic’s legs hooked over Alex’s, he could see that Alex was buried deep in his ass!

The sight pulled another whimper from Mulder, and he tore his eyes away, turning back to Mac and increasing the speed of his movements. "Fuck me, damn you!" he nearly screamed, rearing up to bite at one of Mac’s nipples.

"Fuck, look at him," Alex breathed into Vic’s ear. "He gets as wild as you do, beautiful. Just think, once they come, I’m going to do that to you, make you scream and beg for it." He rubbed his stubbled cheek against Vic’s neck, still somehow remaining motionless. Teasingly, he trailed a fingertip along the length of Vic’s cock, just barely touching him.

"Bastard," Vic whimpered quietly, his eyes glued to Mac pounding into Mulder almost violently and Mulder taking it and demanding more. "Do I really look like that when I get going?" he blushed. "Never knew since you and Mac were the only ones to ever get me like that, and it’s not like I could see my face when we... damn!" Vic breathed, somewhat awed by the whole thing.

Mac heard his lovers’ quiet conversation only as a murmured backdrop to his and Mulder’s panting. For the moment he didn’t care what Vic and Alex were doing; his whole attention was centered on the writhing man beneath him and with his impending climax.

He slammed into Mulder as the federal agent bucked up to meet him; the tremors surrounding his cock as the older man came drew a strangled groan from Mac’s throat, then he was coming too, driving deeply into Mulder’s body one final time before half collapsing on top of him, kissing him lazily as they both succumbed to the post-coital lethargy.

Vic leaned forward, separating himself from Alex slightly. A shaky hand came out to trace along Mac’s sweaty back, down the divide of his ass and down further still to feel where the younger man was still embedded in Mulder. Vic could feel Mac’s seed seeping out of the FBI agent, and he whimpered quietly. "Fuck, that was hot," the ex-cop sighed in appreciation. "And I really get like that?" this last was directed back to Alex, Vic’s eyes gone a hazy green with desire.

Moving back, impaling himself on Alex yet again, Vic whimpered and melted into the older man. " _Ya tebya lublyu, onya moia. Ya vas lublyu oba, mozhet byt vse_."

Mulder’s arms curled around the man atop him, soft whimpers escaping him as tremors of pleasure continued to rock his body. His tongue rubbed against Mac’s as they kissed, and he thought he might never move again.

Alex watched the other pair hungrily, watching each sign of pleasure in them, and his hand curled around Vic’s cock, languidly stroking him, knowing that Vic wanted more but enjoying building the anticipation in them both.

"Yeah, you’re wild when you’re hot and hungry, babe," Alex whispered throatily in response to his lover’s question.

"But it’s all up to you now, beautiful," he rasped in Vic’s ear, his tongue flicking out to tease the sensitive curves. "I’m not going to move. Fuck yourself on me, Vic." He spoke just loudly enough for Mac and Mulder to hear him.

Hearing Alex’s husky command, Mulder turned his head to the side to watch them, a tiny gasp falling from his lips at the sight that met his eyes.

Groaning faintly, Vic began to cant his hips back and forth, establishing a slow, sensual rhythm that had both men desperately wanting more. He wanted to drive Alex insane, wanted to have the older man begging and pleading for Vic to bring him off.

Undulating against the hard body behind him, Vic’s hand slid between their bodies, and every time he pulled off of Alex, he stroked the now exposed flesh with the tips of his fingers. He milked the cock in his ass with slow contractions, loving the rasping breath and the obvious strain in Alex’s body as he fought to let Vic do all the work and not take over and slam into the teasing hole that held him so tightly.

Mac smiled, watching Vic and Alex through half-lidded eyes, his hands still moving lazily over Mulder’s sides. "Never get tired of watching the two of them," he murmured, stretching out an arm to run his hand down Vic’s chest and twining his fingers with Alex’s as he stroked the other man’s erection.

Alex bit his lip to hold back a moan of pleasure as Vic teased him, his fingers gripping Mac’s hard as he fought to hold still. "Beautiful brat," he laughed huskily, dragging his tongue over Vic’s shoulder. "Mmm, you taste good." He gasped as Vic’s ass seemed to ripple around him. "God, stop teasing and _ride_ me."

"But teasing you is so much fun," Vic chuckled. "I get such incredible reactions when I do. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to get bored with me." But even as he said that, the motion of his hips increased in speed ever so slightly, just enough to elicit a warning growl from Alex. Eyes dancing, he looked toward Mac and Mulder and winked slyly. "Sounds like someone is getting a little testy back there."

Mulder chuckled, leaning against Mac and nuzzling into him. "He always did have trouble waiting for what he wanted."

"I waited for you," Alex growled. "Then again, when I saw Vic, I took him right away." His free hand curled over Vic’s hip, gripping him hard enough to bruise. "Just remember, beautiful, revenge is sweet." He nipped sharply at the nape of the other man’s neck.

"Why do you think I do it, ‘lex?" Vic laughed. "I always love your revenge. Though these days you tend to get Mac to help out more often than not, and I end up a complete wreck. And I get these looks from the Director when that happens."

Vic groaned as his prostate was nudged on the instroke of his last thrust and bit his lip hard. Clamping down around Alex, he began to withdraw again, only to slam back a little faster than the last time. The long wait finally getting to him, he was so close it wouldn’t take much more to send him over the edge. The feel of Mac’s and Alex’s hands on him, the clear appreciation in Mulder’s eyes, the feel of his lover’s hot breath on his neck, the sound, the scent, everything goading him to orgasm. Faster and faster he pressed back, finally giving in to the need, one hand curling around Alex’s and his breathing coming in ragged gasps.

"God!" Alex’s fingers closed convulsively on Vic’s and Mac’s as his lover rode him to his climax, making the ex-assassin cry out as he came buried inside the grasping heat of Vic’s body. "Love you," he panted, leaning over and turning Vic’s head to the side so he could kiss him.

The combination of the hot rush of semen within him combined with Alex’s groan and the tight heat of two hands wrapped around him was all it took to push Vic over the edge as well. Keening as he came, Vic’s eyes slid closed, only to open again and refocus on Mulder, whose jaw had gone slack in appreciation of watching the almost identical men both reach their orgasms and the look of almost pained pleasure on their faces.

"I can see why you don’t get tired of watching them," Mulder husked. "That show is worth its weight in gold. And you’ve got private seats to it any time you want it."

"Gold? Platinum at the very least," Alex chuckled.

"The fucking Hope diamond," Mac murmured.

"God," Vic groaned, rolling his eyes. "Next thing I’m gonna hear is that we’re the fucking crown jewels of England." This didn’t stop the blush from spreading across his cheeks at the effusive praise, something he still wasn’t used to despite the amount of praise he got from Mac and Alex. To hear Mulder add his appreciation just added that extra bit of heat to his cheek.

"We look good; I think we get the point. Kinda."

"I can guarantee you got it," Alex chuckled, drawing him back so he wouldn’t slip out yet. "And took it very well too."

"God, two of you are even sexier than one," Mulder gasped, squirming slightly. "I’m never going to want to leave." Realizing what he’d said, he paled and looked down, biting his lip.

"Well, we can always tie you up and keep you in the dungeon," Mac chuckled, feeling the tension race through the feeb and sympathizing with how he was feeling. "That way your government can’t come looking for you."

Vic’s eyes narrowed at the FBI agent’s slip up, but he said nothing. What could he say that wouldn’t result in a bad reaction from one or all of his current bed partners? It was neither the time nor the place for it; nonetheless, he couldn’t stop the tension that permeated him. How could he say anything at all?

It didn’t mean he had to like it though. Squirming slightly, Vic tried to extricate himself from Alex’s embrace. "I’m sticky; I think I need a shower," he muttered.

Alex tightened his arms around him. "We all could use one. We’ll go in a few minutes. Just stay put for a moment, beautiful."

Mulder sat up, looking away from the others. "I should go."

"Don’t even start it again, Vic," Mac said sternly, giving his partner a look. "Remember what you told me? It goes here too, you know."

Vic fought visibly to get himself under iron control. "For... Fine, Mac, you’re right," he muttered, looking away from everyone, his body suddenly rigid.

Closing his eyes, Vic tried to breathe away the tension and concentrated on letting every part of him slowly relax. He shut everyone and everything around him out for long moments while he desperately tried to find the calm center he had possessed once upon a time before his green-eyed devil of a lover burst in on his life and introduced him to the often darker side of himself.

Not that he was complaining or anything, it was just that sometimes he really missed the lone wolf ex-cop he used to be, the responsible, reliable, calm and _mature_ leader of the Director’s little band of secret agents. The one who didn’t sometimes feel like he was out of control and flying blind or coming unglued.

Not that Vic would trade his life and his lovers for what he used to be, but there was something to be said for the emotional isolation of his past. On the other hand, he adored both Alex and Mac with every fiber of his being and knew that he was nothing, just a shallow, burnt out husk of a man without them. So Vic did the only thing he could at the moment. He swallowed his fears, buried them deep down inside and tried very hard to simply be.

"So, anyone up for that shower yet? Congealed come is a bitch to get off, even without body hair," he managed to get out at last, trying for some semblance of a normal tone in an effort to appease his less than thrilled lovers.

Wincing at Vic’s displeasure, clear no matter how hard he tried to hide it, Mulder stood up, reaching for his clothes. "I really should get going. It was nice of you to let me stay last night, but... I should get back to Washington. Wouldn’t want Scully to come looking for me, after all," he tried to joke, knowing it was falling flat.

Sighing, Alex finally let go of Vic and sat up after carefully separating them. "I thought you two worked out your issues earlier while we were away."

Mulder shrugged. "We’re okay on our own, sort of. But I’m the interloper here, and I know it. You three... well, a day late and a dollar short as they say. My own fault."

"Jesus, do I have to lock you all in the basement to deal with this?" Mac sighed, rolling out of bed as well and snatching Mulder’s clothes from his hands and tossing them toward the closet. "Either that or I’m going to get a gun and shoot myself in the head to put me out of my misery. We’re adults here, or we’re supposed to be; can we act like it?"

"Mac," Vic started and then thought better of it. "Just ignore me, okay? I’m an idiot and quite obviously a jackass. And I’m starting to fucking itch here, so I _am_ going to take a shower."

With that, Vic stood and headed into the bathroom. "But that doesn’t mean I’m saying that you can’t join me. _All_ of you, feebie, you included, got it? Shit, and here I’ve been accused of having a fucking martyr complex. It’s nothing on the prince of persecution back there," the ex-cop muttered as the door swung shut behind him.

"You’re staying, Mulder, got it?" Alex said emphatically. "We all want you to. We’ll figure this out. If Macky here could learn to live with _me_ , we can learn where you fit in too."

Looking uncertain for a moment, Mulder finally smiled shakily and nodded. "Whatever you say."

Mac chuckled and caught up to Vic, wrapping an arm around his waist and nipping the back of his neck. "Talk about impossible tasks. As for them getting used to me... Well, I get along with _everyone_."

"Sure they do. That’s why Jackie tried to kill you the first time she met you," Vic replied, rolling his eyes at the younger man’s ego.

"I’m sorry, Mac. I’m trying. Really I am," he continued, his voice going low. "I’m just really lousy at sharing the people I love, and I love the two of you with everything I am. _Both_ of you, you know that, right?" Looking back over his shoulder, he glanced at the younger man through the water spray. "Be patient with me?"

Mac shrugged one shoulder eloquently and hugged the older man to him. "Hey, I love you; patience is included in the deal. If it had been you and me together and then first Alex, then Mulder came in on us, I’d be twitchy too."

"But we keep making it work, and it just keeps getting better," Alex added as the other two men joined them in the bathroom, drawing Mulder into the shower as well, an arm around his waist.

"And it’s not like I’m going to be here much," Mulder said quietly. "My life is still back in Washington. But... I’d like to visit again if that’s okay with all of you."

"Well, Alex keeps saying you grow on people. If I can put up with Nathan, I guess I can put up with you too," Vic offered. It wasn’t exactly an invitation to the Ritz, but at least it was an honest one, and it was more than he ever thought he’d be able to offer. Hopefully it would be enough for now.

%MCEPASTEBIN%


End file.
